Scientists have probably solved the secret of the disappearance of a massive star in 2009 – research
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Scientists may have solved the mystery of the disappearance of a star in 2009 with the help of the Webb telescope.
Science Alert writes about it.
A star 25 times more massive than the Sun disappeared, but not for nothing. It went through a period of increasing brightness many times, as if it was ready to turn into a supernova, which increases the luminosity billions of times.
At the same time, instead of an explosion, the star disappeared. Astronomers have tried to see it with the Large Binocular Telescope, the Hubble Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope, but all attempts have been unsuccessful.
The star N6946-BH1 was today considered a failed supernova. Scientists assumed that it collapsed to become a black hole. However, this is only a theory. All that is known is that the star brightened and then became too invisible to observe.
James Webb’s telescope helped make a breakthrough. A new study published on arXiv analyzed data collected by JWST’s NIRCam and MIRI instruments.
| Photo: Images of the star show 3 sources, not one/Beasor et al 2023 |
The images show a source of bright infrared radiation. It looks like the remnants of the dust envelope that surrounds the location of the original star.
One could assume that this is material ejected by the star during the increase in brightness. Scientists also point to a possible glow from material that allegedly falls into a black hole.
However, the team found not 1, but 3 residual objects. Therefore, the supernova theory is not confirmed. Previous observations are a mixture of three sources, because the resolution of the telescopes was not sufficient.
Scientists say that a very likely event in 2009 is a merger of stars. And the bright massive star was actually a star system where 2 stars merged. Then this system disappeared.
At the same time, the theory with the failed supernova model cannot be completely ruled out yet. There is evidence that some massive stars do become black holes. This is what makes it difficult to understand supernovae and black holes.
N6946-BH1 is located in a galaxy 22 million light-years away, so the fact that JWST can distinguish multiple sources is impressive. It also gives astronomers hope that similar stars will eventually be observed.
With more data, we will be able to distinguish between star mergers and true failed supernovae. This is what will help us understand the final stages of stars as they move towards becoming stellar mass black holes.
Previously, we talked about the discovery of supernovae, which can destroy Earth-like planets with their explosions.
Read also: The Webb Telescope has found evidence of an ocean on an exoplanet: scientists say there could be life there
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