The origin of the black hole has been revealed

It became known that, for the first time, the history of the birth of a black hole by analyzing the chemical composition of the substance left from the dead star.

This is a rare case when it was possible to accurately determine what was a celestial body before turning into a black hole. About it reports ScienceAlert.

We are talking about the double system GRO J1655-40, where around the black hole revolves an ordinary star.

It was believed that previously it was a pair of stars, one of which exploded as a supernova. But it was previously impossible to understand exactly what kind it was.

The researchers studied X-ray spectra of the system recorded by the

Chandra telescopes during a bright outburst in 2005. They determined the concentrations of 18 chemical elements in the neighborhood of the black hole, which were the remnants of the exploded star.

From this data, they were able to reconstruct its portrait accurately: the star was 25 times more massive than the Sun, and most of its matter flew into space after the explosion.

The analysis showed that it was from this star that the black hole was formed.

The study was a breakthrough in “astronomical archaeology”: now scientists can not just observe black holes, but also reconstruct their past by chemical traces.

This will help to better understand how stars turn into black holes and how double systems evolve.

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