Photo: Most Massive Stellar Black Hole Found in Binary System

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The binary system M33 X-7 contains a massive black hole (right) and a huge star locked in tight orbit, as seen in this artist's conception.

At roughly 16 times the mass of the sun, the black hole is the most massive known to have formed from the collapse of a star's core, astronomers recently announced.

Its companion star is about 70 times the mass of the sun, making it the most massive star in a binary system containing a black hole.

Image courtesy NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

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