Heidi T. answered • 09/20/19
Experienced tutor/teacher/scientist
This is a very good question. I'm not sure if we know the answer for sure. We do know that there are binary star systems containing a main sequence star and a black hole (e.g. Cygnus X-1). Stellar evolutionary theory says that black hoes form when extremely massive stars go super nova and the stellar core collapses. This would suggest that Cygnus X-1 is a super nova core. However, given that it's companion is a blue giant and therefore has a relatively short lifespan and there is no super nova remnant, it's also possible that Cygnus X-1 went through it's life and "death" without going super nova, possibly by transferring its outer layers to it's companion.
One way to investigate this question would be to see if there are any known super nova remnants that are around binary / multi-star systems, look for binary systems known to contain both main sequence stars and neutron stars or black holes. I'm pretty sure there are several of the latter, but I don't know of any of the former. Binary stars don't always follow the "accepted" rules. The Albireo system is a true binary system with a yellow star and a blue star. The blue star is much smaller than the yellow star, which does not fit with stellar evolution theory.
I know I haven't really answered your question, but hope this helps.
