Scientists Make New Black Hole Discovery

Generally, stars, planets, and particularly black holes are described in terms of billions of years, but researchers at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Center say they recently found a black hole formed only 30 years ago.

Astronomy Professor Abraham “Avi” Loeb, who co-authored the study, said in a press release that “this may be the first time the common way of making a black hole has been observed.”

The discovery may give scientists new insight into how black holes are made, under what conditions stars die, and why a dying star will sometimes create either a neutron star or a black hole.

It is a chance for scientists to support the long-standing theory that black holes are created by the collapse of large stars and the belief that they continue to be fed by residue from the explosion.

“How does a star end its life? This is a question often asked in Hollywood, but we’re dealing with real stars here,” Loeb said.

According to the release, the black hole is the youngest found in our “cosmic neighborhood”—likely formed after the death of a star 50 times the size of the sun.

The dying star first came to scientists’ attention when an amateur astronomer spotted it through a telescope in his backyard, according to press officer Megan M. Watzke. Since then, she said, scientists have been monitoring the star intermittently.

But with the launch of the Chandra Observatory in 1999, it became possible to study its X-ray emissions. To their surprise, researchers found that the X-rays did not subside, and the “blast waves did not move on,” as one would expect from a supernova.

They concluded that they were likely observing a black hole—and had stumbled upon the rare opportunity to witness it in the earliest years of its formation.

The next step, Watzke said, is a deeper investigation of the black hole, as there is still the possibility that what is being observed is actually a neutron star.

Watzke said a follow up study will ensue, which will include a more detailed reading of the data to get a “fingerprint of X-ray light.”