• A 30‑solar‑mass star in the Andromeda Galaxy vanished without a supernova, signaling a silent collapse. • Multi‑wavelength monitoring by Hubble and Chandra captured the star’s disappearance over 18 months. • No optical or radio supernova signature was detected, supporting a direct collapse into a black hole. • Gravitational‑wave data from LIGO/Virgo show a faint burst coincident with the collapse. • The event refines estimates of black‑hole birth rates in nearby galaxies. • Future observations aim to detect neutrinos from similar silent collapses. • This discovery challenges models that predict bright supernovae for massive stars.
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