2023MNRAS.521.3162S

A black hole candidate orbiting a luminous star in the Large Magellanic Cloud young cluster NGC 1850 (∼100 Myr) has recently been reported based on radial velocity and light-curve modelling. Subsequently, an alternative explanation has been suggested for the system: a bloated post-mass transfer secondary star (M_initial ∼ 4-5 M_⊙ and M_current ∼ 1-2 M_⊙) with a more massive, yet luminous companion (the primary). Upon reanalysis of the MUSE spectra, we found that the radial velocity variations originally reported were underestimated (K_2, revised_ = 176 ± 3 km s^–1 versus K_2, original_ = 140 ± 3 km s^–1) because of the weighting scheme adopted in the full-spectrum fitting analysis. The increased radial velocity semi-amplitude translates into a system mass function larger than previously deduced (f_revised = 2.83 M_⊙versus f_original = 1.42 M_⊙). By exploiting the spectral disentangling technique, we place an upper limit of 10 per cent of a luminous primary source to the observed optical light in NGC1850 BH1, assuming that the primary and secondary are the only components contributing to the system. Furthermore, by analysing archival near-infrared data, we find clues to the presence of an accretion disc in the system. These constraints support a low-mass post-mass transfer star but do not provide a definitive answer whether the unseen component in NGC1850 BH1 is indeed a black hole. These results predict a scenario where, if a primary luminous source of mass M ≥ 4.7 M_⊙ is present in the system (given the inclination and secondary mass constraints), it must be hidden in a optically thick disc to be undetected in the MUSE spectra.