Massive Black Hole Shreds Passing Star
This artist’s rendering illustrates new findings about a star shredded by a black hole. When a star wanders too close to a black hole, intense tidal forces rip the star apart. In these events, called “tidal disruptions,” some of the stellar debris is flung outward at high speed while the rest falls toward the black hole. This causes a distinct X-ray flare that can last for a few years. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Swift Gamma-ray Burst Explorer, and ESA/NASA’s XMM-Newton collected different pieces of this astronomical puzzle in a tidal disruption event called ASASSN-14li, which was found in an optical search by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) in November 2014. The event occurred near a supermassive black hole estimated to weigh a few million times the mass of the sun in the center of PGC 043234, a galaxy that lies about 290 million light-years away. Astronomers hope to find more events like ASASSN-14li to test theoretical models about how black holes affect their environments.
During the tidal disruption event, filaments containing much of the star's mass fall toward the black hole. Eventually these gaseous filaments merge into a smooth, hot disk glowing brightly in X-rays. As the disk forms, its central region heats up tremendously, which drives a flow of material, called a wind, away from the disk.
Music credit: Encompass by Mark Petrie from Killer Tracks.
-
1:01:17
Russell Brand
3 hours agoIMMINENT THREAT! “They’re Coming For The CONSTITUTION!” America’s WAR On Freedom Of Speech – SF455
73.8K121 -
1:40:20
Benny Johnson
3 hours ago🚨 FALSE BOMB THREAT Ahead of New York Trump Rally | Individual DETAINED By Police
78.1K119 -
1:25:06
Mostly Sports With Mark Titus and Brandon Walker
3 hours agoMostly Sports with Mark Titus & Brandon Walker Presented by Jägermeister | EP 251 | 9.18.24
16.4K -
15:24
ROSE UNPLUGGED
17 hours agoYour Story Is His: Getting Through Difficult Chapters
121 -
1:04:22
Uncommon Sense In Current Times
3 hours ago"Your Marriage Can Be Saved!"
664 -
57:59
The Dan Bongino Show
4 hours agoDisturbing Details Emerge In The Assassination Case (Ep. 2331) - 09/18/2024
538K1.96K -
48:20
The Rubin Report
3 hours agoGavin Newsom Humiliated as Elon Musk Responds to His Shocking New Law
56K73 -
1:58:40
Steven Crowder
4 hours agoBeep Beep Boom: Was Israel's Attack On Hezbollah Funny or A War Crime?
301K553 -
LIVE
The Shannon Joy Show
5 hours ago🔥🔥Live Exclusive W/ Andrew Tate Victim’s Attorney Matthew Jury AND Update On The Horrifying Case of Alexis Lorenze!🔥🔥
318 watching -
1:04:39
Athlete & Artist Show
20 hours agoHigh Stakes Stream: NFL, NCAA Football, Fantasy, and MORE!
24.1K2