Mumbai, January 11: In a ground breaking development, scientists have claimed that they might have witnessed the birth of a blackhole, directly linking the death of a star to the formation of a black hole-like compact object. This marks a significant milestone for the astronomical community, as it is the first time researchers have been able to observe the process happen in real-time.

According to a report in Cosmos Magazine, it all began with the discovery of a super bright object by South African amateur astronomer, Berto Monard. The dazzling object SN 2022jli, located 76 million light-years away was found in the spiral arm of a galaxy called NGC 157. The discovery led to the revelation of a supernova characterized by unusual behaviour, deviating from the conventional norms observed in celestial phenomena. Supernovas are hard to study as they are unpredictable. James Webb Space Telescope Captures ‘Cassiopeia A’ Supernova Remnant, NASA Shares Image Showing Moments After a Star Exploded 340 Years Ago.

A supernova marks the dramatic death of a star through a violent explosion. The star collapses due to its own gravitational forces, leading to an explosion that can sometimes be as bright as entire galaxies, until it gradually fades away afterward. The collapse of massive stars produces the densest objects in the Universe, such as black holes and neutron stars. Although we’ve seen supernovas explode before, but this process of supernovas turning to a compact object after explosion has never been directly linked. NASA Shares Mesmerising Visual of Star Cluster NGC 346 Located 200,000 Light Years Away From Earth (See Pic).

In this case the bright object SN 2022jli showed unusual behaviour and did not play by the normal space rules. It started out bright and then faded gradually, before brightening again a month after the discovery. It also created weird undulations every 12 days or so for the next 200 days. Scientists believe that a surviving second star from the supernova explosion is responsible for revealing the compact object. The astronomers hypnotize that a black hole or neutron star is stealing hydrogen from its companion’s ‘puffy’ atmosphere, a process known as accretion, resulting in the oscillations.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 11, 2024 01:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).