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.
-
LIVE
The Big Mig™
3 hours agoElon Resigns, Trump Goes Silent, Where is America’s Gold
4,713 watching -
1:03:22
Dear America
3 hours agoCorrupt Judges Block Trump’s Tariffs?! We Have NO Country! + HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!
91.5K203 -
LIVE
Badlands Media
4 hours agoBadlands Daily: May 29, 2025
4,725 watching -
LIVE
GloryJean
1 hour agoLast Day of Solos 😢 New Update Today! MnK 6.7 K/D
73 watching -
4:03:19
The Bubba Army
1 day agoTate Bros Charged with Rape! - Bubba the Love Sponge® Show | 5/29/25
128K20 -
LIVE
LumpyPotatoX2
1 hour agoBest NA GZW Player [NEW HOTFIX] - #RumbleGaming
129 watching -
1:01:25
The Mike Schwartz Show
2 hours agoTHE MIKE SCHWARTZ SHOW with DR. MICHAEL J SCHWARTZ 05-29-2025
4.57K1 -
2:02:51
BEK TV
1 day agoTrent Loos in the Morning 5/29/2025
38K1 -
14:55
Degenerate Jay
1 day ago $4.00 earnedThe Star Wars Battlefront 3 Situation Is Crazy - Could We Get A New Game?
48.2K4 -
3:22
The Official Steve Harvey
1 day ago $3.51 earnedImagination is God's preview of the life He has for you | Steve Harvey Motivational Talks
50.2K10