# The dark side of supergiant High-Mass X-ray Binaries

## TL;DR

This paper reviews the current understanding and unresolved questions about supergiant High-Mass X-ray Binaries, highlighting the complexities of accretion, stellar winds, and evolution in these systems.

## Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of three specific supergiant HMXBs and discusses the open questions and future directions in the study of these systems.

## Key findings

- Insights into accretion processes in supergiant HMXBs
- Uncertainties in stellar wind properties of massive stars
- Identification of key open questions for future research

## Abstract

High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXB) have been revealed by a wealth of multi-wavelength observations, from X-ray to optical and infrared domain. After describing the 3 different kinds of HMXB, we focus on 3 HMXB hosting supergiant stars: IGR J16320-4751, IGR J16465-4507 and IGR J16318-4848, respectively called "The Good", "The Bad" and "The Ugly". We review in these proceedings what the observations of these sources have brought to light concerning our knowledge of HMXB, and what part still remains in the dark side. Many questions are still pending, related to accretion processes, stellar wind properties in these massive and active stars, and the overall evolution due to transfer of mass and angular momentum between the companion star and the compact object. Future observations should be able to answer these questions, which constitute the dark side of HMXB.