W49B: Did An Explosion Create Our Galaxy's Youngest Black Hole?
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - 14:31
in Astronomy & Space
New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggest a highly distorted supernova remnant called W49B may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. W49B appears to be the product of a rare explosion in which matter is ejected at high speeds along the poles of a rotating star and is about a thousand years old (as seen from Earth) and is located about 26,000 light-years away. Usually when a massive star runs out of fuel, the central region of the star collapses, triggering a chain of events that quickly culminate in a supernova explosion. Most of these explosions are generally symmetrical, with the stellar material blasting away more or less evenly in all directions. read more