Stars that vanish from the sky may be collapsing directly into black holes without going supernova first, a new study of a bizarre binary star system suggests.
Here is an image from the Hubble Space Telescope showing the bright, blue-white stars of the open cluster BSDL 2757 penetrating through the rusty-red tones of gas and dust clouds.
"I saw a star explode and send out the building blocks of the Universe. Other stars, other planets and eventually other life. A supernova! Creation itself! I was there. I wanted to see it and be part of the moment. And you know how I perceived one of the most glorious events in the universe? With these ridiculous gelatinous orbs in my skull!" -Ronald D. Moore, Battlestar Galactica
"The collapse is so complete that no explosion occurs, nothing escapes and one wouldn t see any bright supernova," said researcher Alejandro Vigna-Gómez.