SN 1979C

SN 1979C is the name of a supernova of 1979, which at a distance of 56 million light- years ( 17.2 megaparsecs ) from Earth in the galaxy M 100 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices is.

By the supernova explosion of the star was temporarily the brightest object in the galaxy, but then faded as expected. The luminosity in the visible light falls in supernovae within ten days usually by a factor of 250 from what happened in this supernova. In 2005 it was discovered with the aid of X-ray telescope XMM -Newton that this decrease in luminosity does not take place in the X-ray range. There SN 1979C is lit with the same intensity as already in 1979. The intense X-ray radiation allows the supernova accurately than previously ever to investigate possible.

So it was possible to reconstruct the scientists what size the star that exploded in the supernova had before bursting, namely 18 times the mass of our sun. The star has radiated a strong solar wind over millions of years, the " afterglow " by the X-rays are visible today.

On November 15, 2010, NASA announced that SN 1979C has probably developed into a black hole. This black hole would therefore be the youngest known object of its kind and allowed the emergence of a black hole to explore in more detail. An alternative explanation would be that of a rapidly rotating neutron star, similar to the pulsar in the center of the Crab Nebula.