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N6946-BH1
Now You See it, Now You Don't: Massive Star Goes Out With a Whimper Instead of a Bang
This pair of visible-light and near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope photos shows the giant star N6946-BH1 before and after it vanished out of sight by imploding to form a black hole. The left image shows the 25 solar mass star as it looked in 2007. In 2009, the star shot up in brightness to become over 1 million times more luminous than our sun for several months. But then it seemed to vanish, as seen in the right panel image from 2015. A small amount of infrared light has been detected from where the star used to be. This radiation probably comes from debris falling onto a black hole. The black hole is located 22 million light-years away in the spiral galaxy NGC 6946.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.20h 35m 27.56s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.+60° 08' 08.29"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Draco
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.22 million light-years (6.7 megaparsecs)
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator. - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>WFPC2, WFC3/UVIS
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.July 8, 2007, October 8, 2015
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.WFPC2>F606W (wide V ), July 8, 2007 (1,600 seconds)WFPC2>F814W, July 8, 2007 (1,600 seconds)WFC3/UVIS>F606W (wide V), Oct. 8, 2015 (1,233 seconds)WFC3/UVIS>F814W, Oct. 8, 2015 (1,233 seconds)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.N6946-BH1
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Disappeared Star in NGC 6946
- Release DateMay 25, 2017
- Science ReleaseCollapsing Star Gives Birth to a Black Hole
- Credits
These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFPC2 and WFC3/UVIS instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Two filters in each instrument were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are cyan: F606W and orange: F814W.
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Birth of a Black Hole
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
