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Main Authors: An, Qian-Yu, Gu, Wei-Min
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22490
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_version_ 1866908987607220224
author An, Qian-Yu
Gu, Wei-Min
author_facet An, Qian-Yu
Gu, Wei-Min
contents The third data release of the Gaia mission (Gaia DR3) has enabled large-scale searches for dormant black hole and neutron star binaries with stellar companions at AU-scale separations. A recent study has proposed thousands of dormant black hole and neutron star binary candidates using summary statistics from Gaia DR3 by simulating and fitting Gaia observables. In this work, we perform broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting from the optical to the infrared for 1,328 candidates, incorporating GALEX ultraviolet photometry to assess the presence of hidden hot companions. We quantify ultraviolet excess by comparing observed near-ultraviolet fluxes with single-star SED predictions and further test whether excesses can be explained by non-degenerate stellar companions for sources exhibiting moderate excess. We additionally examine the Galactic kinematics of the sample to identify systems potentially affected by natal kicks during compact-object formation. By combining the ultraviolet and kinematic diagnostics, we identify 182 sources as the highest-priority candidates for follow-up observations, in which 19 are black hole candidates with fit_companion_mass $\geq$ 3 $M_\odot$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_22490
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle SED and Galactic kinematic diagnostics for dormant BH/NS binary candidates
An, Qian-Yu
Gu, Wei-Min
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
The third data release of the Gaia mission (Gaia DR3) has enabled large-scale searches for dormant black hole and neutron star binaries with stellar companions at AU-scale separations. A recent study has proposed thousands of dormant black hole and neutron star binary candidates using summary statistics from Gaia DR3 by simulating and fitting Gaia observables. In this work, we perform broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting from the optical to the infrared for 1,328 candidates, incorporating GALEX ultraviolet photometry to assess the presence of hidden hot companions. We quantify ultraviolet excess by comparing observed near-ultraviolet fluxes with single-star SED predictions and further test whether excesses can be explained by non-degenerate stellar companions for sources exhibiting moderate excess. We additionally examine the Galactic kinematics of the sample to identify systems potentially affected by natal kicks during compact-object formation. By combining the ultraviolet and kinematic diagnostics, we identify 182 sources as the highest-priority candidates for follow-up observations, in which 19 are black hole candidates with fit_companion_mass $\geq$ 3 $M_\odot$.
title SED and Galactic kinematic diagnostics for dormant BH/NS binary candidates
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22490