Fading into darkness: A weak mass ejection and low-efficiency fallback accompanying black hole formation in M31-2014-DS1
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866911462244483072 |
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| author | De, Kishalay MacLeod, Morgan Jencson, Jacob E. Lau, Ryan M. Antoni, Andrea Colmenares, María José Huang, Jane Masterson, Megan Karambelkar, Viraj R. Kasliwal, Mansi M. Loeb, Abraham Panagiotou, Christos Quataert, Eliot |
| author_facet | De, Kishalay MacLeod, Morgan Jencson, Jacob E. Lau, Ryan M. Antoni, Andrea Colmenares, María José Huang, Jane Masterson, Megan Karambelkar, Viraj R. Kasliwal, Mansi M. Loeb, Abraham Panagiotou, Christos Quataert, Eliot |
| contents | Stellar-mass black holes (BHs) can form from the near-complete collapse of massive stars, causing them to abruptly disappear. The star M31-2014-DS1 in the Andromeda galaxy was reported to exhibit such a disappearance between 2014 and 2022, with properties consistent with the failed explosion of a $\approx 12 - 13$ M$_\odot$ yellow supergiant leading to the formation of a $\approx 5$ M$_\odot$ BH. We present mid-infrared (MIR) observations of the remnant obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and X-ray observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2024. The JWST MIRI/NIRSpec data reveal an extremely red source, showing strong blueshifted absorption from molecular gas (CO, CO$_2$, H$_2$O, SO$_2$) and deep silicate dust features. Modeling the dust continuum confirms continued bolometric fading of the central source to $\log(L/L_\odot)\approx3.88$ ($\approx7-8$% of the progenitor luminosity), surrounded by a dust shell spanning $\approx40-200$ au. Modeling of the molecular gas indicates $\sim 0.1$ M$_\odot$ of gas expanding at $\approx 100$ km s$^{-1}$ near the inner edge of the dust shell. No X-ray source is detected down to a luminosity limit of $L_X\lesssim1.5\times10^{35}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We show that the panchromatic observations are explained by (i) a low-energy ($\approx10^{46}$ erg) ejection of the outer H-rich progenitor envelope and (ii) a fading central BH powered by inefficient ($\sim0.1$% in mass) accretion of loosely bound fallback material. The analysis robustly establishes the bolometric fading of M31-2014-DS1 and provides the first cohesive insights into BH formation via low-energy explosions and long-term fallback. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_05774 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Fading into darkness: A weak mass ejection and low-efficiency fallback accompanying black hole formation in M31-2014-DS1 De, Kishalay MacLeod, Morgan Jencson, Jacob E. Lau, Ryan M. Antoni, Andrea Colmenares, María José Huang, Jane Masterson, Megan Karambelkar, Viraj R. Kasliwal, Mansi M. Loeb, Abraham Panagiotou, Christos Quataert, Eliot Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Astrophysics of Galaxies High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Stellar-mass black holes (BHs) can form from the near-complete collapse of massive stars, causing them to abruptly disappear. The star M31-2014-DS1 in the Andromeda galaxy was reported to exhibit such a disappearance between 2014 and 2022, with properties consistent with the failed explosion of a $\approx 12 - 13$ M$_\odot$ yellow supergiant leading to the formation of a $\approx 5$ M$_\odot$ BH. We present mid-infrared (MIR) observations of the remnant obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and X-ray observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2024. The JWST MIRI/NIRSpec data reveal an extremely red source, showing strong blueshifted absorption from molecular gas (CO, CO$_2$, H$_2$O, SO$_2$) and deep silicate dust features. Modeling the dust continuum confirms continued bolometric fading of the central source to $\log(L/L_\odot)\approx3.88$ ($\approx7-8$% of the progenitor luminosity), surrounded by a dust shell spanning $\approx40-200$ au. Modeling of the molecular gas indicates $\sim 0.1$ M$_\odot$ of gas expanding at $\approx 100$ km s$^{-1}$ near the inner edge of the dust shell. No X-ray source is detected down to a luminosity limit of $L_X\lesssim1.5\times10^{35}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We show that the panchromatic observations are explained by (i) a low-energy ($\approx10^{46}$ erg) ejection of the outer H-rich progenitor envelope and (ii) a fading central BH powered by inefficient ($\sim0.1$% in mass) accretion of loosely bound fallback material. The analysis robustly establishes the bolometric fading of M31-2014-DS1 and provides the first cohesive insights into BH formation via low-energy explosions and long-term fallback. |
| title | Fading into darkness: A weak mass ejection and low-efficiency fallback accompanying black hole formation in M31-2014-DS1 |
| topic | Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Astrophysics of Galaxies High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.05774 |