Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory have reported missing.
A supermassive star located in the Kinman Dwarf galaxy (PHL 293B) has disappeared somewhere. This distant galaxy, 75 million light years away, can be seen in the constellation Aquarius. But without the star, which has long been watched by Andrew Allan of the School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and his colleagues at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). They also reported the loss, reporting details in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. What the observatory has dedicated the corresponding press release.
This is how a galaxy looks through a telescope from which a star disappeared.
The missing star - the so-called luminous blue variable - shone very brightly. 3 million times brighter than the sun. It was at least 100 times more massive than it. Therefore, it was visible through optical telescopes from a monstrous distance. Stars so bright and powerful are rare in the Universe. Astronomers are very interested in them. They were also interested in ESO - they knew for sure that from 2001 to 2011 the blue giant was in place, shining as expected. The need to look again at the amazing star arose in August 2019. They looked, but did not see her. We took a closer look by pointing at the Very Large Telescope dwarf galaxy. Did not help. The star you were looking for was not there. Astronomers have turned to archival images taken between 2011 and 2016 - including the Hubble Orbiting Telescope. And they determinedthat the "bright blue variable" disappeared from the Kinman galaxy back in 2011. How it was stolen.
The cross marks the very blue supergiant that disappeared. The picture was taken in 2010.
Allan and his colleagues are still at a loss. And they do not rule out that an unprecedented thing happened: a giant star - one of the brightest in the Universe - turned into a black hole. Transformed immediately. Collapsed, but did not explode before this, becoming first a supernova, as it should be for stars of this type.
“If the star really turned into a black hole directly, then we were the first to witness such a phenomenon,” says Allan. - After all, usually the life of giant stars ends differently - in supernova explosions.
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Another option is also possible: the star nevertheless exploded, but it was blocked by the formed dust cloud. True, in this case, some kind of glow would still have to remain. And he is not visible. Therefore, a fantastic scenario with direct transformation into a black hole is considered more likely.
The dot marks the location of the Kinman dwarf galaxy.
Understanding how and where an entire star disappeared from the galaxy may come in five years, when ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is powerful enough to observe individual stars in distant galaxy clusters.
