The mystery of a star 2.5 million times brighter than the Sun suddenly disappears

Scientists are amazed at why, how a star 2.5 million times brighter than the Sun suddenly mysteriously disappears.

This strange star lies about 75 million light-years from us, in the dwarf Kinman Galaxy, in the constellation Aquarius, which has been studied by scientists since 2001-2011.

Simulation images illustrating what a star will look like before dying - (Image: ESO / L. CALÇADA).

Scientists only discovered its strange disappearance in recent times, when returning to search for this star to learn more about how big stars die. But when they directed the Great European Telescope (VLT) of the Southern European Observatory (Eso) into it, they could no longer see the star. 

No one can explain why and how this star disappeared.

Andrew Allan, head of research at Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), said that the star may have lost its brightness and was obscured by cosmic dust, but it may have died.

If the theory is that this star is dead, that's the most unusual, because stars often explode into supernovae rather than quietly "disappear" or collapse into a black hole.

This becomes even more strange when the star is 2.5 million times brighter than our Sun, disappearing without leaving a signal.

Scientists even use different observing devices to search for stars but still find no trace.

The new discovery could change the way humans understand how giant stars die. What people know so far is that a star will explode, glow and transform into supernovas in the universe.

"It also means that this will be the first direct discovery of such a" monster "star ending life in the strangest way," said researcher Andrew Allan.