Disappearance of a massive star in the Andromeda Galaxy due to formation of a black hole

February 2026 • 2026Sci...391..689D

Authors • De, Kishalay • MacLeod, Morgan • Jencson, Jacob E. • Lovegrove, Elizabeth • Antoni, Andrea • Kara, Erin • Kasliwal, Mansi M. • Lau, Ryan M. • Loeb, Abraham • Masterson, Megan • Meisner, Aaron M. • Panagiotou, Christos • Quataert, Eliot • Simcoe, Robert

Abstract • When a massive star reaches the end of its lifetime, its core collapses and releases neutrinos that drive a shock into the outer layers (the stellar envelope). A sufficiently strong shock ejects the envelope, producing a supernova. If the shock fails to eject it, the envelope is predicted to fall back onto the collapsing core, producing a stellar-mass black hole (BH) and causing the star to disappear. We report observations of M31-2014-DS1, a hydrogen-depleted supergiant in the Andromeda Galaxy. In 2014, it brightened in the mid-infrared, then from 2017 to 2022, it faded by factors of ≳104 in optical light (becoming undetectable) and ≳10 in total light. We interpret these observations, and those of a previous event in NGC 6946, as evidence for failed supernovae forming stellar-mass BHs.

Links

• SIMBAD https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-ref?querymethod=bib&simbo=on&submit=submit+bibcode&bibcode=2026Sci...391..689D
• PDF https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.adt4853
• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/2410.14778
• DATA https://archive.stsci.edu/mastbibref.php?bibcode=2026Sci...391..689D
• ELECTR https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.adt4853