Supernovae are visible from billions of light-years away. But recently astronomers watched a massive star just disappear. But one intriguing possibility is that the star just imploded directly into a black hole, without the supernova detonation. And if that’s the case, is this happening more often, we just didn’t notice it? https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/Audio Podcast version:ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audioWeekly email newsletter:https://www.universetoday.com/newsletterWeekly Space Hangout:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/Astronomy Cast:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHI67dh9jEO2rvK--MdCSgSupport us at https://www.patreon.com/universetodayMore stories at https://www.universetoday.com/Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcainTwitter: https://twitter.com/universetodayFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetodayInstagram - https://instagram.com/universetodayTeam: Fraser Cain - @fcain / [email protected]Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fwChad Weber - [email protected]References:https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2010/eso2010a.pdfhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/09/05/the-suns-energy-doesnt-come-from-fusing-hydrogen-into-helium-mostly/#456b5d0670f9https://www.eso.org/public/usa/news/eso2010/https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/collapsing-star-gives-birth-to-a-black-holehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/12/26/direct-collapse-black-holes-may-explain-our-universes-mysterious-quasars/#1575aa7b71f0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZu3pXAFWY