Dr. Becky | JWST investigates "failed supernova" - did it form a black hole? @DrBecky | Uploaded 11 months ago | Updated 2 hours ago
Back in 2009 a star flared in brightness and then completely disappeared. The best explanation we had at the time was that the star had skipped supernova entirely and collapsed straight down into a black hole. But now the James Webb Space Telescope has taken a look and found something there in infrared light that doesn't seem to have changed brightness at all. So what else could it be? And why does this cause so many problems for explaining the "red supergiant problem"?
Beasor et al. (2023; JWST investigates N6946-BH1) - arxiv.org/pdf/2309.16121.pdf
Gerke, Kochanek & Stanek (2015; N6946-BH1 first "failed supernova" black hole candidate found in HST data) - arxiv.org/pdf/1411.1761.pdf
Georgy et al. (2012; yellow supergiants as progenitors?) - arxiv.org/pdf/1111.7003.pdf
Beasor & Davies (2016; dusty red supergiants in hiding?) - arxiv.org/pdf/1608.03895.pdf
00:00 - Introduction
01:18 - The Red Supergiant Problem
04:52 - What has JWST found observing N6946-BH1?
06:49 - If it's not a "failed supernova" black hole - what else could it be?
09:18 - Follow up JWST observations are planned
09:57 - Bloopers
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
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📚 My new book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): http://lnk.to/DrBecky
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📚 "The Year In Space" celebrating all things space in 2022 from me and the rest of the Supermassive Podcast team: geni.us/jNcrw
---
👕 My new merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
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🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
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🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
---
👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
http://drbecky.uk.com
rebeccasmethurst.co.uk
Back in 2009 a star flared in brightness and then completely disappeared. The best explanation we had at the time was that the star had skipped supernova entirely and collapsed straight down into a black hole. But now the James Webb Space Telescope has taken a look and found something there in infrared light that doesn't seem to have changed brightness at all. So what else could it be? And why does this cause so many problems for explaining the "red supergiant problem"?
Beasor et al. (2023; JWST investigates N6946-BH1) - arxiv.org/pdf/2309.16121.pdf
Gerke, Kochanek & Stanek (2015; N6946-BH1 first "failed supernova" black hole candidate found in HST data) - arxiv.org/pdf/1411.1761.pdf
Georgy et al. (2012; yellow supergiants as progenitors?) - arxiv.org/pdf/1111.7003.pdf
Beasor & Davies (2016; dusty red supergiants in hiding?) - arxiv.org/pdf/1608.03895.pdf
00:00 - Introduction
01:18 - The Red Supergiant Problem
04:52 - What has JWST found observing N6946-BH1?
06:49 - If it's not a "failed supernova" black hole - what else could it be?
09:18 - Follow up JWST observations are planned
09:57 - Bloopers
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
---
📚 My new book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): http://lnk.to/DrBecky
---
📚 "The Year In Space" celebrating all things space in 2022 from me and the rest of the Supermassive Podcast team: geni.us/jNcrw
---
👕 My new merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
---
🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
---
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
---
👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
http://drbecky.uk.com
rebeccasmethurst.co.uk
