A Massive Star Just Disappeared. No Supernova, Just Straight to Black Hole

When the largest stars die, it’s usually pretty obvious. Supernovae are visible from billions of light-years away. But recently astronomers watched a massive star just disappear. No explosion, nothing, it just… vanished? 

Of course, it could have been dust. It’s always dust. But one intriguing possibility is that the star just imploded directly into a black hole, without the supernova detonation. And if that’s the case, is this happening more often, we just didn’t notice it? 

You got this video early. You can watch it on Tuesday at:

https://youtu.be/IV8BfG5fINQ

445 Disappearing Star.mp4 (Vimeo)