Updated on
Summary
Earth's newest neighbour, a supernova spotted 30 years ago, appears to be a newborn black hole, scientists and astronomers reported on Monday.According to scientists, 50 million light-years away in a neighboring galaxy, is a black hole in the making. The star is called SN 1979C and was spotted by chance by amateur astronomer Gus Johnson of Maryland. Johnson spotted the supernova in 1979 at the edge of a galaxy called M100 and astronomers have been peering at it since. At 30 years old, astronomers believe it is the youngest black hole in earth's cosmic neighborhood. It is also the first time scientists have been able to record the exact birth date of a black hole. Scientists believe black holes can be formed in a number of ways, in this case by a star about 20 times the mass of our own Sun going supernova and then collapsing into an object so dense that it sucks surrounding material into its core.
