A Cosmic Burst May Have Created a Neutron Star Or Black Hole

A study published on December 13th, 2021 in Nature Astronomy reveals new information about a cosmic burst discovered in June 2018. This cosmic burst AT2018cow, affectionally nicknamed “the Cow” was 10–100 times brighter than a typical supernova. This is strong evidence that a neutron star or black hole may have been created in the explosion. This new research has found more evidence that this is most likely the case.

Simulation of what a black hole would look like. The light around the black hole is matter being pulled in by its gravity. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman.

What creates black holes and neutron stars?

Both black holes and neutron stars are both created during the deaths of massive stars. The star supernovas, and then the remaining mass collapses into a neutron star. Neutron stars are the cores leftover from stars larger than 8 times the mass of the sun. They collapse under their own gravity so intensely during the explosion that creates them, that they become entirely made of just neutrons. After this, they are small, about the size of a city. But neutron stars are still very heavy, weighing about 1.4 times the mass of the sun all packed in this small space. The rest of the mass from the star that created them is blown away during the supernova that created the neutron star.

Black holes are a result of a supernova so massive and so intense, that it cannot stop collapsing inwards under its own gravity…