Overview
- M31-2014-DS1, a hydrogen-poor supergiant about 2.5 million light-years away, is presented as a clear failed-supernova candidate.
- NEOWISE archives show a sharp infrared brightening in 2014, then a dramatic visible-light drop by roughly a factor of 10,000 by 2023.
- The star appears to have shed a dusty shell while its core collapsed, leaving a lingering mid-infrared glow from heated dust and gas.
- The team identified the object through the largest archival study of variable infrared sources spanning 2005 to 2023.
- Researchers report the findings in Science and note another possible case, suggesting quiet black-hole births may be more common than assumed.