Massive stars might not become a supernova, but still become a black hole
This one is intriguing. There are a few ways stars can become black holes, but they always require a supernova; the outer layers of the star collapse because the thermal energy from the core stops when it runs out of fuel, or an orbiting star deposits enough material on its companion, and then the companion star collapses under its own gravity. This one is different. In this case, the star just faded into a likely black hole without announcing itself as a supernova. The event orcurred in the Andromeda galaxy.
"Keck Observatory observations help constrain a long-predicted pathway for black hole formation"
"Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island contributed key observations to the identification of a rare stellar death in which a massive star appears to have collapsed directly into a black hole without first exploding as a supernova. The event occurred in the Andromeda galaxy and provides strong observational support for a long-theorized but rarely confirmed route to black hole formation.
The study, led by researchers at Columbia University, is published in today’s issue of the journal [url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt4853]Science and combines archival space-based data with targeted ground-based follow-up observations from multiple observatories.
“This has probably been the most surprising discovery of my life,” said Kishalay De, professor of astronomy at Columbia University and lead author of the study. “The evidence of the disappearance of the star was lying in public archival data, and nobody noticed it for years until we picked it out.”"
https://keckobservatory.org/astronomers-...lack-hole/
This one is intriguing. There are a few ways stars can become black holes, but they always require a supernova; the outer layers of the star collapse because the thermal energy from the core stops when it runs out of fuel, or an orbiting star deposits enough material on its companion, and then the companion star collapses under its own gravity. This one is different. In this case, the star just faded into a likely black hole without announcing itself as a supernova. The event orcurred in the Andromeda galaxy.
"Keck Observatory observations help constrain a long-predicted pathway for black hole formation"
"Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island contributed key observations to the identification of a rare stellar death in which a massive star appears to have collapsed directly into a black hole without first exploding as a supernova. The event occurred in the Andromeda galaxy and provides strong observational support for a long-theorized but rarely confirmed route to black hole formation.
The study, led by researchers at Columbia University, is published in today’s issue of the journal [url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt4853]Science and combines archival space-based data with targeted ground-based follow-up observations from multiple observatories.
“This has probably been the most surprising discovery of my life,” said Kishalay De, professor of astronomy at Columbia University and lead author of the study. “The evidence of the disappearance of the star was lying in public archival data, and nobody noticed it for years until we picked it out.”"
https://keckobservatory.org/astronomers-...lack-hole/