196-Star Gives Birth to Possible Black Hole in Hubble and Spitzer Images

The above photo shows final stages in the life of a supermassive star that fails to explode as a supernova but instead implodes under gravity to form a black hole.

A team of astronomers at The Ohio State University watched a star disappear and possibly become a black hole. Instead of becoming a black hole through the expected process of a supernova, the black hole candidate formed through a “failed supernova.” The team used NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes and the Large Binocular Telescope to observe and monitor the star throughout the past decade. If confirmed, this would be the first time anyone has witnessed the birth of a black hole and the first discovery of a failed supernova.