Vanishing Without a Trace: Why Stars Mysteriously Disappear From the Night Sky

Astrophysicists at the University of Copenhagen help explain a mysterious phenomenon, whereby stars suddenly vanish from the night sky. Their study of an unusual binary star system has resulted in convincing evidence that massive stars can completely collapse and become black holes without a supernova explosion.

New research by astrophysicists at the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute presents the strongest evidence to date that very massive stars can succumb with far more stealth and discretion than as supernovae. Indeed, their investigation suggests that, with enough mass, a star’s gravitational pull can be so strong that no explosion takes place upon its death. Instead, the star can go through what is known as a complete collapse.

“Were one to stand gazing up at a visible star going through a total collapse, it might, just at the right time, be like watching a star suddenly extinguish and disappear from the heavens. The collapse is so complete that no explosion occurs, nothing escapes and one wouldn’t see any bright supernova in the night sky. Astronomers have actually observed the sudden disappearance of brightly shining stars in recent times.

There are also theories that describe other types of black holes, which have yet to be discovered. One of these, so-called Primordial black holes, are supposed to have formed in the early universe and could theoretically be microscopic. “Our analysis unequivocally points to the fact that the black hole in VFTS 243 was most likely formed immediately, with the energy mainly being lost via neutrinos,” says Professor Irene Tamborra from the Niels Bohr Institute, who also participated in the study.According to Professor Tamborra, the VFTS 243 system opens the possibility for finally comparing a range of astrophysics theories and model calculations with actual observations.

Source: Tech Daily Report (techdailyreport.net)

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