Thanks for the very informative response Ken.
Quote:
- you can use spectra to detect mass exchange between stars in a binary system (if the stars are close enough to each other that the mass flow from one star to another)
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Spectroscopy has also found strong evidence for the existence of Black Holes in binary systems. In X-ray binaries where the matter is falling into a white dwarf or neutron star the x-ray spectra shows two distinct signatures. One is the x-ray emission from the collision of matter with itself (high temperature heating with the subsequent emission) , the other is the matter colliding into the dwarf or neutron star. In some binaries this latter emission is missing, indicating the collision is occurring inside the event horizon of a Black Hole and therefore cannot be observed.
Regards
Steven