Episode Details

When the largest stars die, it’s usually pretty obvious. Supernovae are visible from billions of light-years away. But recently astronomers watched a massive star just disappear. No explosion, nothing, it just… vanished?

Of course, it could have been dust. It’s always dust. But one intriguing possibility is that the star just imploded directly into a black hole, without the supernova detonation. And if that’s the case, is this happening more often, we just didn’t notice it?

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References:

https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2010/eso2010a.pdf

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/09/05/the-suns-energy-doesnt-come-from-fusing-hydrogen-into-helium-mostly/#456b5d0670f9

https://www.eso.org/public/usa/news/eso2010/

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/collapsing-star-gives-birth-to-a-black-hole

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/12/26/direct-collapse-black-holes-may-explain-our-universes-mysterious-quasars