A Black Hole Disrupts a Passing Star

A Black Hole Disrupts a Passing Star

Illustration Credit:
NASA,
JPL-Caltech

Explanation:
What happens to a star that goes near a black hole?

If the star directly impacts a massive
black hole,
then the star falls in completely — and everything vanishes.

More likely, though, the star goes close enough to have the
black hole’s gravity pull away its outer layers, or
disrupt, the star.

Then, most of the star’s gas does not fall into the
black hole.

These stellar
tidal disruption events can be as bright as a supernova,
and an increasing amount of them are being discovered by automated
sky surveys.

In the featured artist’s illustration, a star has just passed a massive
black hole and sheds gas that continues to orbit.

The inner edge of a disk of gas and dust
surrounding the black hole is heated by the
disruption event and may
glow long after the star
is gone.