Disappearance of a massive star in the Andromeda Galaxy due to formation of a black hole
When a massive star reaches the end of its lifetime, its core collapses and releases neutrinos that drive a shock into the outer layers (the stellar envelope). A sufficiently strong shock ejects the envelope, producing a supernova. If the shock fails to eject it, the envelope is predicted to fall back onto the collapsing core, producing a stellar-mass black hole (BH) and causing the star to disappear. We report observations of M31-2014-DS1, a hydrogen-depleted supergiant in the Andromeda Galaxy. In 2014, it brightened in the mid-infrared, then from 2017 to 2022, it faded by factors of [Formula: see text] in optical light (becoming undetectable) and [Formula: see text] in total light. We interpret these observations, and those of a previous event in NGC 6946, as evidence for failed supernovae forming stellar-mass BHs.
Authors
- Elizabeth Lovegrove (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0393-4266)
- Eliot Quataert
- Megan Masterson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4127-0739)
- Christos Panagiotou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9034-6261)
- J. Jencson
- Aaron Meisner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1125-7384)
- Ryan M. Lau
- Abraham Loeb
- Kishalay De
- Erin Kara
- Andrea Antoni
- Morgan MacLeod
- Mansi M. Kasliwal
Institutions
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Woodwell Climate Research Center (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US)
- NSF NOIRLab (US)
- United States Naval Observatory (US)
- Flatiron Health (United States) (US)
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (US)
- Flatiron Institute (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Columbia University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2026-02-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt4853
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 23.83