Massive Star Collapses into Black Hole

Astronomers have observed a rare cosmic event where a massive star, M31-2014-DS1, located in the Andromeda Galaxy, did not explode in a supernova but instead quietly collapsed into a black hole. This event provides the most complete set of observations of a star making this transition, allowing scientists to understand how very massive stars end their lives. Data from NASA's United States===Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission and other telescopes, collected between 2005 and 2023, showed the star brightening in infrared light in 2014, then sharply dimming in 2016, and nearly disappearing in visible and near-infrared wavelengths by 2022-2023. The findings, published in Science, suggest that convection plays a crucial role in shaping the star's final moments, preventing all outer layers from plunging directly into the black hole. This discovery, led by Kishalay De and with theoretical groundwork by Andrea Antoni, helps explain why some massive stars explode while others collapse quietly, and it may serve as a benchmark for understanding stellar black hole formation.