NASA find helps understanding of black holes

A COSMIC explosion seen 31 years ago may have been the birth cry of the youngest black hole ever observed, which could help researchers understand how black holes are born and evolve.

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory picked up strong X-ray emissions coming from the region around an exploded star, or supernova, named SN 1979C, about 50 million light-years away in the Virgo cluster.

Chandra is the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope.

The star was observed exploding in 1979. The X-ray emissions are consistent with radiation thrown off by a black hole gobbling up gas and dust, scientists now say.

That may mean researchers are getting a good look at a baby black hole, giving them a chance to watch how it changes over time.

“What’s really exciting about it is we know the exact birth date of a black hole for the first time,” said Kim Weaver, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for astronomers to look at these young systems.”

Researchers think the star that exploded to form SN 1979C was about 20 times as big as our sun.