Astronomers witness birth of black hole
Posted: Tue, Nov 16, 2010, 7:11 AM ET (1211 GMT)
Astronomers announced Monday that they have detected evidence of a black hole forming in the remnants of a supernova that took place just 30 years ago. Observations of the remnants of supernova SN 1979C by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, as well as ESA's XMM-Newton and Germany's ROSAT spacecraft, detected a bright source of x-rays in the remnant that has remained constant since the mid-1990s. Astronomers believe the x-rays come from material spiraling into a black hole created by the supernova. Another possibility, astronomers acknowledged, is that the x-rays come from a neutron star formed by the supernova; that would make this the youngest neutron star discovered. SN1979C is located in the galaxy M100 about 50 million light years away.
Astronomers announced Monday that they have detected evidence of a black hole forming in the remnants of a supernova that took place just 30 years ago. Observations of the remnants of supernova SN 1979C by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, as well as ESA's XMM-Newton and Germany's ROSAT spacecraft, detected a bright source of x-rays in the remnant that has remained constant since the mid-1990s. Astronomers believe the x-rays come from material spiraling into a black hole created by the supernova. Another possibility, astronomers acknowledged, is that the x-rays come from a neutron star formed by the supernova; that would make this the youngest neutron star discovered. SN1979C is located in the galaxy M100 about 50 million light years away.
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