Hidden in Plain Sight II: Characterizing the Luminous Companion to κ Velorum with VLTI/GRAVITY

Abstract κ Vel (Markeb, HD 81188, 天社五) is one of the brightest stars in the Southern sky and has long been known to be a single-lined spectroscopic binary. The binary mass function is large, f ( M ) = 1.15 M ⊙ , suggesting that the bright ( V = 2.5) B2IV star may host a dark, compact object companion. We use VLTI/GRAVITY observations to definitively test this possibility by directly resolving the binary. We detect a main sequence B star companion and rule out the compact object scenario. By combining the relative astrometric orbit and archival radial velocities, we report an updated precise characterization of the orbit (period P = 116.795 ± 0.002 days, eccentricity e = 0.1764 ± 0.0004, inclination i = 74 . ° 04 ± 0 . ° 01) and estimate the masses of the B stars. Using the original Hipparcos parallax measurement ϖ = 6.05 ± 0.48 mas, we find M 1 = 1 0 − 2 + 4 M ⊙ and M 2 = 6.9 ± 1.0 M ⊙ . The uncertainties on the masses are primarily driven by the uncertain parallax, which we find is likely biased by the orbital motion. We use an archival UVES spectrum and MIST evolutionary tracks to refine our mass estimates. Finally, we discuss how interferometry and high-contrast imaging may be used to characterize other candidate star+compact object binaries, including those that will be discovered with Gaia DR4, as part of a larger effort to uncover the hidden population of black holes in the Milky Way.