SCIENCE FILE : Science in Brief : First Link Between Supernova Explosion, Black Hole Found

Spanish astronomers have obtained the first evidence of a direct link between a supernova explosion and the formation of a black hole. Stars with masses more than about 10 times that of our sun are thought to end their lives either as a supernova or in gravitational collapse, either of which would produce a black hole.

A team from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias in the Canary Islands studied emissions from a star orbiting a black hole in the binary system Nova Scorpii 1994. They report in today’s Nature that the star contains very high amounts of oxygen, magnesium, silicon and sulfur that must have been captured when its companion star became a supernova before collapsing into a black hole. The abundance of the elements indicates the original star was between 25 and 40 solar masses.

Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II