Premium Only Content

NASA | 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.
This video is public domain and can be downloaded at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?12005
You can read more about this at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/destroyed-star-rains-onto-black-hole-winds-blow-it-back.html
Like our videos? Subscribe to NASA's
-
LIVE
SpartakusLIVE
8 hours agoWZ Solos || #1 Challenge MASTER brings you Saturday SPARTOONS
601 watching -
9:05:51
Spartan (Pro Halo esports Player)
10 hours agoNo Scrims today so Ranked for a bit then SWTOR
25.2K -
58:42
Sarah Westall
10 hours ago500 Vaccine Schedule, WHO & UN Deception, Cyborg Depopulation Agenda w/ Dr. Rima Laibow
56.5K20 -
9:15
The Art of Improvement
2 days agoThe Power of Micro-Goals
21.4K2 -
16:16
megimu32
16 hours agoKerplunk Unboxing: Loud, Chaotic & Definitely a Sibling Trap
14.2K17 -
22:55
marcushouse
17 hours ago $0.73 earnedStarship’s Flight Plan Just Took an Unexpected Turn!
12.9K7 -
1:29
Memology 101
1 day ago $0.87 earnedShe just SNITCHED on her ENTIRE party…😂😂😂
10.2K13 -
4:53:29
IcyFPS
7 hours agoDOOM x WARZONE | Chapters 9-14 | LETS GO!! | Direct RTMP |
7.19K1 -
3:44:35
MoFio23!
13 hours agoNintendo Switch It UP Saturdays with The Fellas: LIVE - Episode #19 [Mario Tennis: Aces]
23.6K -
5:27:15
RaikenNight
5 hours ago $0.09 earnedLets Rumble!! Baldur's Gate 3
3.9K