When stars expend their nuclear fuel, they can become white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes. Stars about 8 to 10 times the mass of our sun tend to explode in a beautiful supernova, shedding their outer shells and leaving behind remnant cores; less than that and they evolve into red giants then white dwarfs — similar to how our own sun will come to an end.
In the case of stars over ~20 solar masses, they typically collapse into black holes, though it's possible for them to leave behind a neutron star. What's unusual is when a high mass star between ~10 to 20 solar masses simply fades away, hinting at a collapse without a supernova.
In recent observations of archival JWST data from 2017 to 2022 by Kishalay De and collaborators at Columbia University, the team discovered just that in our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda. The yellow supergiant star, DS1 (~12-13 solar masses), is only the second confirmed case of a collapse into a black hole without a supernova.
Join us this week as Mike reviews the findings of the rare sighting of a star's anti-climactic fade into obscurity.
If you have questions you would like answered on Astro Brief, email them to Dr. Mike Reed at mikereed@missouristate.edu.
Astro Brief is a collaboration between KSMU, the Missouri Space Grant, and MSU's Department of Physics, Astronomy and Materials Science. Hosted by Dr. Mike Reed, Astro Brief focuses on astronomical events, the field of astronomy, and astronomy-related guests. It airs Thursdays at 9:45 am on KSMU.