Disappearing star might be first known failed supernova

Science News : In 2009, a star 19 million light-years away increased in brightness over the span of several months, eventually reaching a luminosity 1 million times that of the Sun. The star appeared to be going supernova. But instead of progressing to a tremendous explosion, the star suddenly disappeared. Thinking that the star had perhaps been hidden by a cloud of dust, Scott Adams of Caltech and his colleagues used the Hubble Space Telescope to examine the region of sky. Where the star had been, they found a faint IR signature, which they believe is evidence of material falling into a black hole that formed via the star’s collapse. If the interpretation is correct, then this is the first star known to have become a black hole without first going supernova. Such a process has been described in theories that say some stars are so massive that the supernova process cannot overcome the stars’ own gravity. If the star did become a black hole, the debris falling in is likely emitting x rays. Adams’s team is awaiting observations from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.