New kind of cosmic flash may reveal something never seen before: Birth of a black hole

Friday, May 3, 2013 - 17:00 in Astronomy & Space

(Phys.org) —When a massive star exhausts its fuel, it collapses under its own gravity and produces a black hole, an object so dense that not even light can escape its gravitational grip. According to a new analysis by an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), just before the black hole forms, the dying star may generate a distinct burst of light that will allow astronomers to witness the birth of a new black hole for the first time.

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