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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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What If the Sun Had a Black Hole Inside It? Scientists Uncovered Shocking Possibility

Imagine a normal star like our Sun. It shines steadily for billions of years, powered by nuclear fusion. Now imagine something extremely strange happening inside it — a tiny black hole, smaller than an asteroid, quietly enters the star and gets trapped at its center.

According to a new theoretical study by Ore Gottlieb and team, this is not just science fiction. These tiny objects, called primordial black holes (PBHs), could exist as a form of dark matter and may sometimes get captured by stars. Once this happens, the star becomes something completely new: a “Hawking star.”

This idea could change how we understand dark matter, star deaths, and even cosmic explosions.

What Are Primordial Black Holes?

Primordial black holes are not formed by dying stars like normal black holes. Instead, scientists think they may have formed just after the Big Bang, when the Universe was extremely hot and dense.

They are very different from usual black holes:

  • They can be extremely small

  • Some can weigh less than mountains or asteroids

  • They are invisible like all black holes

  • They could still exist today as part of dark matter

Dark matter is the invisible material that makes up most of the mass of the Universe. We cannot see it, but we know it exists because of its gravity. PBHs are one possible candidate for this mysterious matter.

Can a Star Capture a Black Hole?

It sounds impossible, but the study shows it might happen — though very rarely.

A star does not usually “swallow” a black hole directly. Instead, the process is more complicated.

Step 1: Three-body interaction

A PBH usually gets captured when a star has a companion, like:

  • A planet (like Jupiter)

  • Or another star

The PBH interacts with the star and its companion at the same time. This is called a three-body interaction.

This interaction can slowly trap the PBH into an orbit around the star.

Step 2: Slow sinking into the star

Once captured, the PBH starts passing through the star again and again. Each time it passes through:

  • It loses energy

  • It slows down

  • It sinks deeper

Finally, it settles at the center of the star.

What Happens Inside the Star?

Once inside, the PBH begins to grow by eating the surrounding stellar material.

But this process is surprisingly slow and quiet at first.

Quiet growth phase

In the early stage:

  • The black hole grows slowly

  • Gas falls in from all directions

  • There is no disk of material

  • No explosion happens

This type of growth is called Bondi accretion, where matter falls in almost evenly from all sides.

The star still looks normal from outside.

The Important Turning Point

As the PBH grows, something critical can happen.

Inside the star, gas starts to gain rotation. If the rotating gas becomes strong enough, it cannot fall straight into the black hole anymore. Instead, it begins to form a spinning disk around it.

This is a major turning point.

Why is this important?

Because once a disk forms:

  • Strong magnetic fields appear

  • Huge amounts of energy are released

  • Powerful jets of matter can shoot out

At this stage, the system becomes extremely violent.

Scientists call this the “point of no return.”

Two Possible Fates of the Star

The study finds that Hawking stars can end in two completely different ways.

1. Quiet Death (No Explosion)

If the black hole grows too fast or disk formation happens too late:

  • The black hole simply consumes the star

  • The process remains quiet

  • No strong explosion occurs

  • The star disappears slowly from the inside

At the end, a relatively large black hole remains.

Everything happens silently, without bright signals.

2. Explosive Death (Star Explosion)

If the disk forms early enough, the situation changes dramatically.

Then:

  • A spinning disk forms around the black hole

  • Magnetic fields become extremely strong

  • Jets of energy shoot outward

  • The star is torn apart

This explosion can happen very quickly — sometimes within minutes.

The energy released can be enormous, comparable to some of the most powerful events in the Universe.

What Does the Explosion Look Like?

If a Hawking star explodes, it may produce several signals that we could potentially observe from Earth.

1. Bright flash of light

  • Lasts about one day

  • Strong UV (ultraviolet) and blue light

  • Very bright but short-lived

2. X-ray or gamma-ray burst

  • Happens if jets escape the star

  • Can last seconds to minutes

  • Similar to weak gamma-ray bursts

3. Radio signals

  • Produced when explosion interacts with surrounding space

  • Can last much longer

These signals would not look like normal supernova explosions, making them scientifically very interesting.

What Happens After the Star Dies?

After the event, a black hole remains behind.

There are two main possibilities:

Explosive case remnant

  • Small to medium black hole

  • Very fast spinning

  • Mass between 0.01 and 1 times the Sun

Quiet case remnant

  • Much heavier black hole

  • Mass similar to the original star

These leftover black holes could be important clues for astronomers.

Why This Matters for Science

This idea is important because it connects three big mysteries:

1. Dark matter

If PBHs exist, they could explain dark matter. Studying Hawking stars could help us detect them indirectly.

2. Star deaths

Not all stars may die by supernova. Some might be destroyed from the inside by black holes.

3. Black hole formation

We might find unusual black holes with unexpected masses and spins.

Could We Actually Detect Hawking Stars?

The study suggests yes — at least in principle.

If PBHs make up dark matter, then:

  • Some stars should become Hawking stars

  • Some should explode in unusual ways

  • Some should quietly disappear

Astronomers could search for:

  • Strange short-lived bright flashes

  • Unusual gamma-ray bursts

  • Unexpected subsolar black holes

Even gravitational wave detectors might find evidence of these exotic black holes merging.

How Rare Are These Events?

These events are expected to be rare. Most stars will never capture a PBH.

But if dark matter is made partly of PBHs, then over cosmic time:

  • Some captures must happen

  • Some stars must become Hawking stars

  • Some exotic explosions must occur

Even rare events can be important if the Universe is large enough.

Big Picture: A New Kind of Star

This theory suggests a completely new category of stars:

  • Normal stars: powered by fusion

  • Supernova stars: die in explosions

  • Black hole stars (Hawking stars): die from inside by hidden black holes

Depending on timing and conditions, these stars either:

  • Fade quietly into darkness

  • Or explode in a powerful cosmic blast

Conclusion

The idea of Hawking stars is still theoretical, but it is very powerful. It connects dark matter, black holes, and stellar physics in a single framework.

If even part of this idea is correct, it means:

  • Tiny black holes could be hiding inside stars right now

  • Some stars might already be slowly being eaten from within

  • And some mysterious cosmic explosions we see could be caused by them

In simple words, the Universe might be more dramatic than we thought — where even ordinary stars can secretly hide black holes inside them, waiting for the moment to either quietly disappear or violently explode.

Reference: Ore Gottlieb, Matteo Cantiello, Cameron Norton, Ken Van Tilburg, Matthew Kleban, "The Life and Death of Stars That Capture Primordial Black Holes", Arxiv, 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.02700

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