Constraining black hole natal kicks with high-precision radio astrometry

Abstract

Studying the motion of black hole systems in our Galaxy allows us to constrain the distances and velocities of these systems. We used radio telescopes around the globe to measure these motions and report the first observationally determined birth velocity distribution for black holes, helping us understand how these objects are born. We used the motion of unclassified radio sources to identify a new subpopulation of possible Galactic black hole candidates.