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9h ago

Astronomers See Andromeda Star Vanish, Pointing to a Black Hole Born Without a Supernova

A new Science study uses years of multiwavelength observations to argue for direct collapse, a reading some researchers counter with a dust‑shrouded merger.

Scientists watched as a star, once one of the brightest in the Andromeda galaxy, simply winked out of existence. They have a theory.
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These images show the location (and disappearance) of M31-2014-DS1. (A) is a color composite. The area in the yellow dashed square is the region shown in images (B), (C), and (D), where (D) is the difference between (B) and (C). Images (E) through (J) are zoomed-in shots of the star taken in the labeled years. Credit: NIR Keck image
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Overview

  • The star M31-2014-DS1 brightened in infrared by roughly 50% starting in 2014, then rapidly dimmed from 2016 and by 2022–2023 was essentially gone in visible and near‑infrared light with only faint mid‑infrared emission remaining.
  • De and colleagues model the event as a failed supernova forming an object of about five solar masses, with most stellar material falling back and a small fraction powering a lingering infrared glow.
  • The team attributes the prolonged, faint emission to convection-driven slow accretion and an expanding dust shell that absorbs radiation near the compact remnant and re‑emits it in the mid‑infrared for decades.
  • The work presents the most complete record yet of such a transformation and helps reinterpret the earlier candidate NGC 6946‑BH1 as part of a similar class of stellar deaths.
  • Independent researchers recently proposed an alternative merger scenario using JWST and Chandra follow‑ups obtained in 2024, and continued monitoring is expected to test whether the source remains dark or eventually rebrightens.