Talk:Stellar black hole

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BH masses

Some of the masses in the table for the companion object are impossibly small. I notice Cygnus X-1 in particular, where the companion star is an O9.7Iab, and must have a mass of roughly ≥20 solar masses. The table gives 0.25, and I think this might be the so-called mass function. The Uhuru X-ray source 4U 1543-475 is a similar case, but I do not know the lower limit.

I don't have time to check all these right now, but will put it on my list (meaning it could be a while). For now I have changed the "Mass" column heading to be BH mass, and the other to be "Companion Mass", but estimates for the mass of the optical companion need to be distinguished from the mass functions (which are easier to determine observationally, but only constrain the masses, don't determine them unless the orbital inclination is known). If the mass function is meant, then the column heading should so indicate, and define it (we don't seem to have an article that does that, but I only checked the article on binary stars). Wwheaton (talk) 00:05, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]