Black holes and neutron stars are the final products of the collapsed cores of massive stars.

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We now detect neutron stars and black holes merging via the detection of gravitational waves.

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What is the mass spectrum of these objects?

Is their formation associated with a kick?

How do pairs of compact objects form?

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I use multiwavelength, multi epoch spectroscopy to hunt for compact objects in the Local Universe.

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I am leading an ESO Large Programme dedicated to study these questions in the Small Magellanic Cloud: Check out the BLOeM page.

Notable relevant publications:

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• Shenar et al. 2022, Nature Astronomy, 6, 1085: "An X-ray quiet black hole born with a negligible kick in a massive binary within the Large Magellanic Cloud"

• Shenar et al. 2022, A&A, 665, 148: "Characterization of hidden companions in 51 single-lined spectroscopic binaries"

• Janssens, Shenar et al. 2022, A&A, 658, 129: "Uncovering astrometric black holes with Gaia"