Stars may fade with whimper, not bang

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- The death of a star may not be as spectacular as previously thought, Danish researchers said.

A team of scientists at the Dark Cosmology Center at Copenhagen's Niels Bohr Institute found a third way a star can fade from the heavens, the Copenhagen Post said. Previously, stars were known to end either as a super-dense white dwarf if small or as supernova if large.

The team, led by Johan Fynbo, noted two gamma ray bursts during the summer similar to those associated with a supernova. However, they couldn't find signs of a supernova explosion in the region where the gamma rays were discovered. Fynbo said this suggested that not all stars end in the fiery explosion of a supernova; some collapse and become a black hole without transmitting any cloud or substance.

"They just sort of get pulled into themselves, like when water runs down a drain," Fynbo said.

He said he hopes that future satellites capable of measuring dying stars' gravity waves could help determine whether his theory holds true.

The team's findings are in the December issue of Nature.