On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Black holes may be harder to make than once thought. When stars go supernova, theoretical calculations suggested that those about 25 times the sun's mass or more turn into black holes; meanwhile less massive stars become dense, whirling balls of neutrons. One such neutron star, in the Westerlund 1 star cluster and examined by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, defies this calculation. Based on the size of the largest nearby stars, astronomers deduced that the neutron star's parent was among the biggest of them all—at least 40 solar masses. They suggest that extremely weighty stars might shed mass so effectively before they die that enough is left only for a neutron star. The findings, appearing in an upcoming Astrophysical Journal Letters, may severely limit the formation of black holes to stars between 25 and 40 solar masses.
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
