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JWST reveals a luminous infrared source at the position of the failed supernova candidate N6946-BH1

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arxiv 2309.16121 v2 pith:2XM7263A submitted 2023-09-28 astro-ph.SR astro-ph.HE

classification astro-ph.SRastro-ph.HE
keywords failedn6946-bh1observationsprogenitorsourceappearsbrightnesscandidate
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N6946-BH1 is the first plausible candidate for a failed supernova (SN), a peculiar event in which a massive star disappears without the expected bright SN, accompanied by collapse into a black hole (BH). Following a luminous outburst in 2009, the source experienced a significant decline in optical brightness, while maintaining a persistent infrared (IR) presence. While it was proposed to be a potential failed SN, such behavior has been observed in SN impostor events in nearby galaxies. Here, we present late-time observations of BH1, taken 14 years after disappearance, using JWST's NIRCam and MIRI instruments to probe a never-before-observed region of the object's spectral energy distribution. We show for the first time that all previous observations of BH1 (pre- and post-disappearance) are actually a blend of at least 3 sources. In the near-IR, BH1 is notably fainter than the progenitor but retains similar brightness to its state in 2017. In the mid-IR, the flux appears to have brightened compared to the inferred fluxes from the best-fitting progenitor model. The total luminosity of the source is between 13 - 25% that of the progenitor. We also show that the IR SED appears consistent with PAH features that arise when dust is illuminated by near-ultraviolet radiation. At present, the interpretation of N6946-BH1 remains uncertain. The observations match expectations for a stellar merger, but theoretical ambiguity in the failed SN hypothesis makes it hard to dismiss.

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Cited by 2 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Supernovae from stellar mergers and accretors of binary mass transfer: Implications for Type IIP, 1987A-like and interacting supernovae

    astro-ph.HE 2025-07 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Binary mass accretors and stellar mergers produce hydrogen-rich Type II supernovae whose explosion energies, nickel masses, and neutron star masses are set by the pre-collapse core entropy, not by the binary history.

  2. Giants, Supergiants and Hypergiants

    astro-ph.SR 2025-07 unverdicted

    A review chapter maps giant, supergiant, and hypergiant luminosity classes to stellar evolutionary pathways, from massive supernova progenitors to low-mass white dwarf precursors.

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