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Old 21-01-2013, 10:38 AM
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sjastro
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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)
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
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