Astronomers might have finally seen a star become a black hole
Astronomers may have witnessed a never-before-seen event: A star becoming a black hole.
Astronomers might have finally seen a star become a black hole Astronomers may have witnessed a never-before-seen event: A star becoming a black hole. Check out this story on floridatoday.com: https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2019/01/11/astronomers-might-have-finally-seen-star-become-black-hole/2552645002/
Antonia Jaramillo, Florida Today Published 5:24 p.m. ET Jan. 11, 2019
Astronomers just discovered an ancient cloud of gas in a distant universe that formed after the Big Bang.
Last June, astronomers encountered an unusual explosion some 200 million light-years from Earth that still puzzles them today. Since then, scientists around the world have tried to figure out the object's identity using a NASA-funded telescope in Hawaii.
Nicknamed "The Cow," there are two possible theories surrounding AT2018cow: Either it's a black hole shredding a passing star or it's a supernova – a stellar explosion – that gave birth to a black hole or a neutron star.
If the latter, the mystical flare could be the first time humanity captured the precise moment when a star gives birth to a black hole.
Some scientists believe there could be a "central engine" within The Cow that could either be a highly magnetized neutron star – the collapsed core of a giant star – or an extremely hot star that became a black hole.
Scientists will continue investigating The Cow and look for similar objects that could provide more data.
NASA celebrates its 60th anniversary
This iconic image called Earthrise was taken aboard Apollo 8 by Bill Anders. NASA
President Dwight Eisenhower and the U.S. Congress created an act to launch NASA for national defense purposes. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were in a major Cold War of ideas and contests of dominance. The space race took off during this time. The plan to orbit a scientific satellite as part of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) for the period, July 1, 1957 to Dec. 31, 1958 was approved by President Eisenhower. AP
The Soviets launched their Sputnik 1 satellite on Oct. 4, 1957, pushing the U.S. program into overdrive. The U.S. launched its first Earth satellite on Jan. 31, 1958, when Explorer 1 documented the existence of radiation zones encircling the Earth. NASA
The space program quickly advanced during it's first 20 years. Human space flight initiatives-Mercury's single astronaut program (flights during 1961-1963) to ascertain if a human could survive in space were the first priority. Astronaut Alan B. Shepard stands with a three-year-old chimpanzee, named Ham, who preceded him in space with a 16' minute 39'' second sub-orbital flight performed aboard the Mercury Redstone rocket on Jan. 31, 1961. Ham's mission paved the way for the successful launch of America's first human astronaut, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., on May 5, 1961. AFP/Getty Images
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. sits in his Freedom 7 Mercury capsule, ready for launch. Just 23 days earlier, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first man in space. ''That little race between Gagarin and me,'' Shepard said, ''was really, really close.'' After several delays and more than four hours in the capsule, Shepard was ready to go, and he famously urged mission controllers to ''fix your little problem and light this candle.'' NASA
Pilot Neil Armstrong is seen on Jan. 1, 1960, next to the X-15 ship after a research flight at the Dryden Flight Research Center in California. The X-15 was flown over a period of nearly 10 years, from June 1959 to Oct. 1968 and set the world's unofficial speed and altitude records. Information gained from the highly successful X-15 program contributed to the development of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo manned spaceflight programs, and also the Space Shuttle program. Armstrong eventually became the first man to walk on the surface of the Moon. HO, AFP/Getty Images
Astronaut John Glenn wearing a Mercury pressure suit during training for his Feb. 20, 1962 space flight aboard Friendship 7 in which he became the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn, who made history twice as the first American to orbit the Earth and the first senior citizen to venture into space. HO, AFP/Getty Images
US astronaut John Glenn enters the Mercury "Frienship-7" capsule in Cape Canaveral, Fla., prior to the launch of the spacecraft for the first US manned orbital flight ever. HO, AFP/Getty Images
John Glenn's Friendship 7 spacecraft launches on a Mercury-Atlas rocket on Feb. 20, 1962. NASA
Astronaut John Glenn Jr., center, is honored by President John F. Kennedy after Glenn's historical first manned orbital flight, Mercury-Atlas 6. The ceremony was held in front of Hangar S at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. NASA
John Glenn, stands next to his Friendship 7 capsule in which he made his historic orbital flight, meets with President John F. Kennedy. Mrs. Glenn stands next to her husband. Earlier that day, President Kennedy presented the NASA Distinguished Service Award to Glenn. NASA
NASA Administrator Robert C. Seamans Jr. (L) and scientist Wernher Von Braun (C), father of the Saturn V Rocket which took the US astronauts to the Moon, are seen with President John F. Kennedy (R) at a Cape Canaveral launching pad on Nov. 1, 1963. AFP/Getty Images
On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 commander Neil A. Armstrong prepares to board the Saturn V space vehicle for the beginning of his mission to the Moon. AFP/Getty Images
The astronaut crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Left to right, are Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module. HO, AFP/Getty Images
The Saturn V rocket lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969, at the start of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins blasted off for the first man on the Moon mission. HO, AFP/Getty Images
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., lunar module pilot, descends steps of Lunar Module ladder as he prepares to walk on the moon, July 20, 1969. He had just egressed the LM. This picture was taken by Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Commander, with a 70mm 1 surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity. NEIL A. ARMSTRONG, Associated Press
This July 20, 1969 file photo shows one of the first steps taken on the Moon, of Buzz Aldrin's bootprint from the Apollo 11 mission. On July 16, 1969, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched toward the moon atop a Saturn V rocket. Four days later, on July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed their Eagle lander at Tranquility Base on the moon as Collins remained in orbit aboard the command module. HO, AFP/Getty Images
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed US flag during Apollo 11 Extravehicular Activity (EVA) on the lunar surface area called the Sea of Tranquility. The Lunar Module (LM) is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the Moon. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar surface camera on July 20, 1969. HO, AFP/Getty Images
Thousands of people camped out on beaches and roads adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the Apollo 11 mission liftoff aboard the Saturn V rocket July 16, 1969. HO, AFP/Getty Images
The Apollo 17 recovery Operations shortly after splashdown shows the Apollo 17 spacecraft bottom, the recovery helicopter and the recovery vessel, USS Ticonderoga. Apollo XVII was the final Lunar landing mission of the Apollo Program, on Dec.r 19, 1972. HO, AFP/Getty Images
By July 17, 1975, Commander of the Soviet crew of Soyuz, Alexei Leonov (L) and commander of the US crew of Apollo, Thomas Stafford (R), were shaking hands after the Apollo-Soyuz docking maneuvers. HO, AFP/Getty Images
NASA's Viking I unmanned spacecraft landed on Mars on July 20, 1976. NONE, NASA
In this Jan. 27, 1986 file picture, the crew for the space shuttle Challenger leaves their quarters for the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. From foreground are: commander Francis Scobee, Mission Spl. Judith Resnik, Mission Spl. Ronald McNair, Payload Spl. Gregory Jarvis, Mission Spl. Ellison Onizuka, teacher Christa McAuliffe and pilot Michael Smith. Steve Helber/AP
Crew members of space shuttle Challenger and mission STS-51 were: back row; Mission specialist Ellison S. Onizuka, from left, Teacher in Space Participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist Greg Jarvis and Mission specialist Judy Resnik. In the front row are Pilot Mike Smith, from left, Commander Dick Scobee, and Mission specialist Ron McNair. Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all aboard. NASA
The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center in this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo. All seven crew members died in the explosion, which was blamed on faulty O-rings in the shuttle's booster rockets. The disaster shattered NASA's image and the belief that flying on a spacecraft could become as routine as flying on an airplane. BRUCE WEAVER/AP
The Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery lifts off from Launch Pad 398 in Kennedy Space Center at morning on April 24, 1990, carrying a crew of five and the Hubble Space Telescope. The mission, STS-31, had been originally scheduled for launch on April 10th but was scrubbed because of a faulty APU. NASA officials and scientist around the world are looking forward to the first glimpse into space by the telescope. Paul Kizzle/AP
Astronaut F. Story Musgrave (top right center) works with a restraint device, on Dec. 5, 1993 near the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during the first of five STS-61 extravehicular activities (EVA). Astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman, who joined Musgrave for three of the five spacewalks, is seen at the bottom of the frame preparing to work with fuse plugs. NASA
US Space Shuttle Atlantis Commander James Wetherbee (L) shakes hands with the Russian Space Station Mir 24 Commander Anatoly Slolovyev on Sept. 27 1997, in the vestibule of Mir's docking module as Mir 24 Flight Engineer Russian Pavel Vinogradov (C) looks on shortly after hatch opening. Atlantis and her crew of seven are on the seventh Mir/Shuttle docking mission.. AFP/Getty Images
In this file photo taken on Sept. 20, 1998, the US Space Shuttle Discovery is sits on launch pad 39-B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in preparation for its scheduled Oct. 29 mission. AFP/Getty Images
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, left, and Postmaster General Marvin Runyon, unveil one of two special commemorative stamps celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing at The National Air and Space Museum on, July 20, 1994, in Washington. An Apollo 11 lunar landing module is to the left rear. GREG GIBSON/AP
The crew of Apollo 11 Michael Collins (L), Neil Armstrong (C) and Buzz Aldrin stand in front of the Apollo command module Columbia after US Vice President Al Gore awarded them the Samuel P. Langley medal 20 July, 1999 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. JOYCE NALTCHAYAN/AFP
The fourth Hubble Telescope servicing mission, returned to Earth, in 2002, after the crew performed five spacewalks to install solar arrays, a camera, a power control unit, a reaction wheel assembly and an experimental cooling system. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center designed, developed and built the telescope, which launched and was deployed in April 1990. NASA
A colourful image of the Lagoon Nebula seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. AFP/Getty Images
The fifth and final space shuttle mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope launched in 2009. Space shuttle Atlantis and the crew of STS-125 delivered the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Wide Field Camera 3 to the revolutionary observatory. NASA
Kepler, the space agency's $591 million telescope mission, launched in 2009, opening a new era in planet detection. More than 300 planets have been detected orbiting nearby stars since 1995, but planetary scientists expected Kepler to roughly quadruple that number in its first three years of operation. NASA
An United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Wednesday evening, Jan. 30, 2013 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The rocket is carrying the latest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite for NASA. This is the 11th TDRS (T-driss) satellite to be launched by NASA. The space agency uses the orbiting network to communicate with the astronauts living on the International Space Station. The satellites also relay all the images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Craig Bailey/Florida Today
Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA is seen after returning to Ellington Field on March 3, 2016 in Houston, Texas after his return to Earth the previous day. Kelly is a veteran of four space flights, who commanded the International Space Station on Expeditions 26, 45, and 46. JOEL KOWSKYAFP/NASA/ via AFP/Getty Images
Two astronauts in one family! NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, left, and his twin Mark get together before a press conference, March 4, 2016, in Houston. Scott Kelly set a U.S. record with his a 340-day mission to the International Space Station. Mark is the husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and is an author, political activist, and aerospace consultant. Pat Sullivan/AP
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