- Supernova SN 1979C newly found - Youngest baby Black Hole. November 17, 2010 - (CERES TV News Center @ Spain) - Supernova SN 1979C was found after a massive cosmic explosion 31 years ago(1979) may have been the birth of the youngest black hole ever observed according to NASA. This could help research astronomers understand how black holes are born and evolve. The primary formation process for black holes is expected to be the gravitational collapse of heavy objects such as stars. SN 1979C was first reported to be seen by an amateur astronomer in 1979. The galaxy M100 is located in the Virgo Cluster about 50 million light years from Earth. This approximately 30-year age, plus its relatively close distance, makes SN 1979C the nearest example where the birth of a black hole has been observed, if the interpretation by the scientists is correct. "What's really exciting about it is we know the exact birth date of a black hole for the first time," Kim Weaver, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, told reporters today (Nov. 15). "It's a wonderful opportunity for astronomers to look at these young systems." The data from NASA Chandra X-Ray observatory revealed a bright source of X-rays that has remained steady for the 12 years from 1995 to 2007 over which it has been observed. This behavior and the X-ray spectrum, or distribution of X-rays with energy, support the idea that the object in SN 1979C is a black hole being fed either by material falling back into the black hole after the supernova. But this baby black hole is different, researchers said. It's much closer, for one thing, so astronomers should be able to watch how it changes over time. The newly discovered black hole also doesn't seem to have an associated gamma-ray burst. Theorists think that most black holes probably don't produce gamma-ray bursts — meaning the newly discovered one is likely typical of most black holes in the universe. © 2010 CERES TV News [more info at]: http://www.cerestv.com [e-mail]: news@cerestv.com For further information: Teléf.+34 983 457460 • Fax: +34 983 233387 Valladolid - (Spain)
