Star swallowing black hole may trigger new supernova

A dying star in a tight orbit with a black hole may detonate in a rare way, reshaping ideas about how supernovae happen.

Star Swallows Black Hole Triggers New Type of Supernova

In 2023, astronomers detected a bright explosion in a distant galaxy. The event, named SN 2023zkd, began like a normal supernova but brightened again six months later, puzzling scientists.

A new analysis links the unusual rise to a star in a close orbit with a black hole. As the orbit decayed, the star shed mass and the black hole's gravity forced it to collapse, triggering the explosion. The first bright peak came from the blast hitting surrounding gas, while a second peak came from collision with material the star had ejected. Researchers used archival data and machine learning to spot patterns spanning four years before the explosion. The result is a bigger black hole in the end. The study will appear in The Astrophysical Journal and a preprint is on arXiv.

The finding challenges simple ideas about how stars die. It shows that interactions with compact objects can drive explosions in ways we did not expect. It also shows the power of ongoing sky surveys and AI tools to detect rare events early.

Still, one case is not a rule. Scientists need more examples to test the model. The work underscores both the promise of new data and the limits of interpreting a single event.

Highlights

The cosmos still hides drama, waiting for the next eye that spots it.