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-14|i, 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
-
LIVE
The Rubin Report
37 minutes agoKamala’s Latest Attack Proves She Is Grasping at Straws & Getting Desperate
2,996 watching -
LIVE
Major League Fishing
1 day agoLIVE! - General Tire Team Series: Patriot Cup - Day 1
544 watching -
14:44
Laura Loomer
2 days agoThe Great Replacement, Episode 3: BORDERS, CARTELS, AND CRIME
8.3K21 -
LIVE
LFA TV
12 hours agoHARRIS HATCH ACT VIOLATION! | LIVE FROM AMERICA 10.24.24 11am EST
4,060 watching -
40:06
BonginoReport
4 hours agoKamala Brutally Fails Job Interview 101 Questions (Ep.71) - 10/24/24
50.7K176 -
LIVE
Vigilant News Network
12 hours agoBill Gates Ordered to STAND TRIAL Over COVID-19 Vaccines | The Daily Dose
1,354 watching -
1:07:41
2 MIKES LIVE
2 hours agoThe Mike Schwartz Show 10-24-2024
3.49K2 -
LIVE
Danny Haiphong
3 hours agoBRICS New Currency UNVEILED: Iran-Israel War, WW3 Looms w/ Jeffrey Sachs, Richard Wolff & Victor Gao
1,017 watching -
1:35:36
Jeff Ahern
2 hours agoThursday Thrash with Jeff Ahern (6am Pacific)
17.6K -
1:34:17
Game On!
11 hours ago $7.86 earnedThe most professional, on time, non-clickbait sports show on the internet!
31.7K2