A New Black Hole?

  • Released Tuesday, February 26, 2013
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Supernova remnant W49B is not your run-of-the-mill remains of an exploded star. In most cases when a star explodes, its cosmic guts scatter equally in all directions, forming a ring of material around the blast site. But W49B looks different. By combining X-ray images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, radio data from NSF's Very Large Array, and infrared images from Caltech's Palomar Observatory, scientists were able to create a detailed picture of the supernova remnant. By examining the image they found that not only did an unusual explosion produce W49B, giving it a barrel-shaped appearance, but it also lacked a neutron star at its center—a common feature of supernova remnants. Scientists think in place of the neutron star there may lie a black hole. If this is true, it means that W49B could harbor the youngest black hole ever detected in the Milky Way galaxy. Watch the video to learn more about this discovery.

A rare explosion may have created the youngest black hole in our galaxy.

A rare explosion may have created the youngest black hole in our galaxy.

Supernova remnant W49B is located 26,000 light-years from Earth.

Scientists estimate supernova remnant W49B is about 60 light-years wide.

Scientists estimate supernova remnant W49B is about 60 light-years wide.

Using the X-ray images, scientists were able to identify the elements that make up supernova remnant W49B, which include iron, sulfur and silicon.

Using the X-ray images, scientists were able to identify the elements that make up supernova remnant W49B, which include iron, sulfur and silicon.

The uneven distribution of iron (purple) seen in this X-ray image of W49B suggests the star that created the supernova remnant exploded abnormally.

The uneven distribution of iron (purple) seen in this X-ray image of W49B suggests the star that created the supernova remnant exploded abnormally.

For More Information

See NASA.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Cover image courtesy of NASA/CXC/MIT/L.Lopez et al.; Palomar Observatory/Caltech; NSF/NRAO/VLA
Video courtesy of NASA/CXC/A. Hobart
Radio image courtesy of NSF/NRAO/VLA
Infrared image courtesy of Palomar Observatory/Caltech
X-ray images courtesy of NASA/CXC/MIT/L.Lopez et al.

This page was originally published on Tuesday, February 26, 2013.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:52 PM EDT.