Hasta La Gadget!

Scientists observed a huge supernova in 2005 that happened much earlier than predicted, leading to speculation that our theories about how black holes are formed need further refinement.

According to a report in The Future of Things , scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and San Diego State University detected a huge explosion—not the one from September, but another one—from a star that was roughly 50 times the size of our own sun. “In what they call a ‘first observation of its kind’ the scientists were able to notice that most of the star’s mass collapsed in on itself, resulting in a creation of a large black hole,” the report said.

What makes this particular supernova remarkable—aside from its enormous size—is that it happened much earlier than astronomers had predicted. That lends further credence to the theory that massive stars—those 20 or more times the size of our sun—can suddenly and violently end their lives by becoming black holes.

“This might mean that we are fundamentally wrong about the evolution of massive stars, and that theories need revising,” said Dr. Avishay Gal-Yam, from the Weizmann Institute’s Faculty of Physics, in the article. (Via Slashdot) (Image credit: Supernova 1994D / NASA)