Astrophysical object
Stellar-Mass Black Hole
Cosmology & UniverseEstablished Science
Definition
A black hole of a few to a few dozen solar masses, formed when a massive star collapses.
Scientific overview
When a massive star exhausts its fuel, its core can collapse past the neutron-star limit into a stellar-mass black hole. These are detected in X-ray binaries and, since 2015, through the gravitational waves emitted when two of them merge.
Rests on
Related discoveries & objects
Measured by
Related topics
Knowledge connections
- Related toIntermediate-Mass Black Hole
- Depends onThe Schwarzschild Radius
- Related toBlack Hole
- Related toNeutron Star
- Related toThe First Detection of Gravitational Waves
- Measured byLIGO Hanford
- Measured byVirgo
- Related toNeutron Star
- Associated withMassive-Star Core Collapse
- Associated withSpaghettification
- Associated withCygnus X-1 (black hole)
- Associated withV404 Cygni
Sources & references
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- LIGO Scientific CollaborationLIGO Scientific Collaboration & Virgo Collaboration
Direct detections of gravitational waves from compact-object mergers.