White smoke emerges from the Sistine Chapel, signaling the conclave has chosen a pontiff

VATICAN CITY,  Italy 

White smoke has emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel Thursday, signaling that the conclave to elect a new pope has chosen the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Just after noon ET (around 6pm local time in Vatican City), white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel chimney as bells rang, which symbolizes that a new pope had been officially selected.

Previous votes, which resulted in black smoke coming from the chapel, meant that a vote was inconclusive and did not reach a decision.

The smoke signal has been around since at least the year 1417, according to an estimation from historian Frederic J. Baumgartner. There are three officials, called scrutinners, who are chosen each day to read the votes aloud and then burn the ballots that create the smoke signal.

The white smoke is created with a mixture of potassium chlorate, lactose and pine resin — also known as Greek pitch — according to a 2017 study by McGill University. 

The black smoke is made with a cartridge holding potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulphur. The smoke travels up almost 100 feet of steel and copper tubes to the top of the chimney.

The papal conclave began on May 7 with 133 electors, the largest number of voting cardinals in history.

Since then, the cardinals have isolated themselves from the outside world, stayed in Vatican guesthouses and completed four rounds of voting every day until a two-thirds majority finally elected a new pope. 

There is never a set timeline for how long conclaves will last; the last three conclaves made their decisions within two to three days.