118.697 Aufrufe · 1.311 Reaktionen | Astronomers have finally seen something that was, until now, just a terrifying theory.
Meet SN 2023zkd: a supernova that wasn't just a star running out of fuel, but a star that died while trying to eat a black hole.
Discovered in 2023 and fully analyzed in 2025, this explosion occurred about 730 million light-years away. For years leading up to the blast, the star was seen glowing strangely. Scientists now realize this was the star's outer layers expanding as it attempted to swallow its black hole companion.
But you don't just "eat" a black hole. As the star's gas enveloped the hole, the black hole's intense gravity acted like a cosmic blender, creating massive tidal stresses. Instead of the star consuming the black hole, the gravitational pressure triggered a premature, catastrophic collapse of the star's core.
The result was a rare double-peaked supernova. The first flash was the explosion itself, and the second was the blast wave slamming into the massive clouds of gas the star had shed during its "final meal."
It is the strongest evidence we have ever found that a close encounter with a black hole can actually detonate a star, forcing it to explode before its time.
#Astronomy #SpaceFacts #Supernova #BlackHole #SN2023zkd #ScienceNews #Physics #Cosmos #Astrophysics #NASA | Science Space Tamil
