Astronomers have identified what appears to be a new kind of supernova, SN 2023zkd, caused by the catastrophic interaction between a massive star and a black hole. This discovery provides the strongest evidence to date that a black hole’s gravitational pull can detonate a star.
The Deadly Cosmic Dance 💃🏽
The new type of supernova is believed to be the final, explosive result of a binary system where a massive star and a black hole were locked in a close orbit. As the orbit of the two objects decayed, the star, which was large and “puffy,” began to expand. The black hole’s immense gravitational pull started to siphon material from the star. The star, in turn, was attempting to swallow the black hole. The immense gravitational stress from the black hole on the star ultimately triggered its catastrophic explosion. An alternative theory suggests the black hole tore the star apart, and the resulting debris collision generated the supernova’s light.
Key Observations 🔭
This supernova, located about 730 million light-years from Earth, initially appeared as a typical stellar explosion. However, subsequent observations revealed two peculiar behaviors that distinguished it from other supernovae:
- Pre-explosion activity: Astronomers discovered that the star had been slowly brightening for about four years before the main explosion, indicating it was under extreme gravitational stress. This type of prolonged pre-explosion activity is rarely seen in supernovae.
- Double-peaked light curve: After the initial burst of light, the supernova did not simply fade away as expected. Instead, it re-brightened dramatically several months later. This “double-peaked” light curve is a strong indicator of a complex interaction, likely involving the black hole’s consumption of leftover stellar debris.
This discovery was made possible with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), which flagged the event as unusual and prompted astronomers to follow up with a large set of telescopes. In both proposed scenarios for the supernova, the end result is a single, more massive black hole.
The discovery
The discovery was made by a team led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as part of the Young Supernova Experiment. The results are published in The Astrophysical Journal.
The blast, named SN 2023zkd, was first discovered in July 2023 by the Zwicky Transient Facility. A new AI algorithm designed to scan for unusual explosions in real time first detected the explosion, and that early alert allowed astronomers to begin follow-up observations immediately—an essential step in capturing the full story of the explosion. By the time the explosion was over, it had been observed by a large set of telescopes, both on the ground and from space.
The scientists think the most likely interpretation is that the massive star was locked in a deadly orbit with the black hole. As energy was lost from the orbit, their separation decreased until the supernova was triggered by the star’s gravitational stress as it partially swallowed the black hole.
“Our analysis shows that the blast was sparked by a catastrophic encounter with a black hole companion, and is the strongest evidence to date that such close interactions can actually detonate a star,” said Alexander Gagliano, lead author of the study and fellow at the NSF Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions.
“Our machine learning system flagged SN 2023zkd months before its most unusual behavior, which gave us ample time to secure the critical observations needed to unravel this extraordinary explosion.”
An alternative interpretation considered by the team is that the black hole completely tore the star apart before it could explode on its own. In that case, the black hole quickly pulled in the star’s debris and supernova emission was generated when the debris crashed into the gas surrounding it. In both cases, a single, heavier black hole is left behind.
Located about 730 million light-years from Earth, SN 2023zkd initially looked like a typical supernova, with a single burst of light. But as the scientists tracked its decline over several months, it did something unexpected: it brightened again. To understand this unusual behavior, the scientists analyzed archival data, which showed something even more unusual: the system had been slowly brightening for more than four years before the explosion. That kind of long-term activity before the explosion is rarely seen in supernovae.
Detailed analysis revealed that the explosion’s light was shaped by material the star had shed in the years before it died. The early brightening came from the supernova’s blast wave hitting low-density gas. The second, delayed peak was caused by a slower but sustained collision with a thick, disk-like cloud. This structure—and the star’s erratic pre-explosion behavior—suggest that the dying star was under extreme gravitational stress, likely from a nearby, compact companion such as a black hole.
“2023zkd shows some of the clearest signs we’ve seen of a massive star interacting with a companion in the years before explosion,” said V. Ashley Villar, a CfA assistant professor of astronomy in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a co-author on the study. “We think this might be part of a whole class of hidden explosions that AI will help us discover.”
“This discovery shows how important it is to study how massive stars interact with companions as they approach the end of their lives,” said Gagliano. “We’ve known for some time that most massive stars are in binaries, but catching one in the act of exchanging mass shortly before it explodes is incredibly rare.”
With the Vera C. Rubin Observatory recently unveiling its first images and preparing to survey the entire sky every few nights, this discovery marks a glimpse of what’s to come. Powerful new observatories, combined with real-time AI systems, will soon allow astronomers to uncover many more rare and complex explosions and begin to map how massive stars live and die in binary systems.
The Young Supernova Experiment will continue to complement Rubin by using the Pan-STARRS1 and Pan-STARRS2 telescopes to identify supernovae shortly after explosion. This approach offers a cost-effective way to study the dynamic nearby universe.
“We’re now entering an era where we can automatically catch these rare events as they happen, not just after the fact,” said Gagliano. “That means we can finally start connecting the dots between how a star lives and how it dies, and that’s incredibly exciting.”
The
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Universe discoveries 
This discovery of SN 2023zkd is nothing short of breathtaking — a true cosmic drama where astrophysics meets poetry.
The image of a massive star and a black hole locked in a slow, destructive dance, each trying to consume the other, feels almost mythic. The fact that this interaction could ignite a completely new kind of supernova pushes the boundaries of what we thought possible in stellar death.
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🙏🌹
Aum Shanti
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Yes sir it’s truely amazing 🎸
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