Dying Star's Desperate Attempt to Swallow Black Hole Ends in Spectacular Explosion

According to a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal, scientists have discovered a supernova explosion that was caused by a giant star's interaction with a nearby black hole. The event, dubbed SN 2023zkd, occurred approximately 730 million light-years from Earth.

Typically, supernova explosions follow a predictable pattern, brightening over a week or two before reaching their peak and then gradually dimming. However, SN 2023zkd exhibited some unusual behavior that caught the attention of an AI program designed to monitor cosmic explosions. The program flagged the supernova for further study due to its unusually slow dimming rate.

Upon closer observation, the researchers found that the star had been slowly brightening for around four years before the initial explosion, an incredibly uncommon occurrence. This led them to believe that the star had been locked in an orbital dance with a black hole, and as the two celestial bodies drew closer, the black hole's intense gravitational pull caused the star to gradually brighten.

Ultimately, the star's proximity to the black hole became too much, and the extreme gravitational stress triggered the supernova explosion. Interestingly, the explosion was followed by a second peak in brightness, which the researchers believe occurred when the explosion itself collided with a disc-like cloud of dust and gas leftover from the star-black hole interaction.

This discovery could transform the way scientists understand the lives and deaths of stars, as it suggests that the interaction between stars and black holes may play a more significant role in driving stellar explosions than previously thought.