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Binary stars keep masquerading as black holes

What scientists thought was a star orbiting a black hole turned out to be two stars instead

illustration of a black hole and a warped red giant star

Astronomers originally thought that the “Unicorn” star system held a black hole and a warped red giant star, as shown in this illustration. But now researchers have found that the black hole is actually a second star.

Lauren Fanfer/Ohio State Univ.

By Liz Kruesi

- More than 2 years ago

As astronomy datasets grow larger, scientists are scouring them for black holes, hoping to better understand the exotic objects.