Black Hole Candidates

Generally, any binary star system in which there is a strong X-ray source and in which one of the stars is not seen but is very massive is a good candidate for a black hole. However, accretion onto a black hole will look similar in many respects to accretion onto a neutron star or white dwarf (see the discussion in the left frame). Thus a careful study is required to distinguish black hole accretion from that onto neutron stars or white dwarfs.