JWST spies an expected supernova but a puzzling lack of heavy elements
A type of supernova called a collapsar is thought to leave behind a black hole that fires out a jet seen from Earth as a gamma ray burst. In a new study, the heavy elements expected to be forged in the blast are missing., wowing astronomers, and earning the nickname of the BOAT—the brightest of all time. Now, astronomers using NASA’s JWST orbiting observatory have identified the source of the blast—and stumbled on a new puzzle.
The big bang endowed the universe with abundant hydrogen and helium. But all the other 92 natural elements are forged in stars as nuclei are fused together into bigger ones. Ordinary stars produce lighter elements, but the ones heavier than iron are thought to require the explosive conditions of a supernova or some other extreme event.
Collapsars seemed the best bet. More common than neutron star mergers but still so rare only a few dozen have been observed, collapsars require stars massive enough for the core that remains after the supernova blast to finally collapse into a black hole. A rapid spin is also key, so that leftover material swirls into an accretion disk. As the black hole sucks in material from the disk, it gets heated to extreme temperatures, blasting out radiation and particles that create r-process conditions.
Blanchard’s team waited until 6 months later, when the afterglow was gone and the expanding shell of material was dispersed enough for JWST to see close to the black hole, where the r-process is expected to occur. To the surprise of team members, given BOAT’s brightness, the remnants of the collapsar did not look exceptionally large.
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