Washington: In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have observed a black hole that appears to have formed without the violent supernova explosion usually associated with such events. This unique black hole found in the triple-star system V404 Cygni, located about 7,800 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation, has presented researchers with evidence that some black holes might be born through a quiet collapse rather than a cataclysmic blast.
Typically, black holes are thought to form when massive stars die in explosive supernovae, shedding their outer layers while their cores collapse under intense gravity. However, a recent study led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) astronomer Kevin Burdge, published in Nature, suggests that V404 Cygni’s black hole may have formed via a “failed supernova” or “direct collapse.”
In this process, the star collapses inward but does not explode, creating a black hole without expelling material into space. “The gravitational collapse happens too quickly for the supernova to trigger,” Burdge explained, adding that while the process is “gentle” in astronomical terms, it ultimately leads to an implosion that forgoes the supernova’s explosive release of matter.
Observations from the European Space Agency’s Gaia space observatory revealed that V404 Cygni’s black hole is bound not just to one, but two stars. The first star, about 0.7 times the mass of our Sun, orbits the black hole every 6.5 days at a close distance, leading the black hole to siphon material from it. This process is driven by the star’s natural aging, which causes it to expand in what’s known as the red giant phase.
The second star, which has 1.2 times the Sun’s mass, is much farther out, orbiting the inner duo at a vast distance that takes 70,000 years to complete. Notably, researchers believe the system’s stability suggests a gentle black hole formation; an explosive supernova would have likely disrupted the gravitational ties among the trio. “The triple system could not have survived if the black hole was born with a ‘natal kick,’” explained Caltech astronomer Kareem El-Badry, co-author of the study.
Interestingly, this quiet formation pathway aligns with predictions that many black hole systems could emerge from triple systems, which then evolve as the black hole consumes one of its stellar neighbors. In V404 Cygni’s case, the black hole is gradually consuming its closer companion, which may ultimately transform the system into a binary black hole-star pair.
This discovery provides direct evidence for a gentler form of black hole formation and supports the theory that some black hole binaries may have initially existed as triples, with one star later being engulfed by the black hole.
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