Have you always been fascinated by the deep mysteries of the universe, much beyond the stars and planets we see? Astronomers have captured an exact moment from the outer world, when a star was eaten by a supermassive black hole, shredding it to pieces. The observations suggested that the star had the mass as much as our sun. The occurrence which took place over 215 million light years from Earth was spotted using telescopes from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). This is called the 'tidal disruption event' and it the closest one ever recorded. Scientists Shed Light on How Black Holes Grow Over Time.
A tidal disruption event occurs when a star gets too close to a supermassive black hole. The black hole sucks it in with its strong gravitational pull. The star gets physically torn apart and the matter disintegrates looking like strings. This process is called as spaghettification – when the star gets thin into thin strips like a spaghetti, leaving flashes of light. This moment was captured by astronomers and have shared it with people to see. ‘Like a July 4 Fireworks Display’! NASA Releases Photo of ‘Celestial Fireworks’ Situated 22,000 Light Years Away.
Check The Pic of Blackhole Eating a Star:
1/ Using ESO telescopes and other facilities, astronomers have spotted a rare blast of light from a star being ripped apart by a supermassive black hole.
Illustration credit: @ESO /M. Kornmesser https://t.co/SZhVL6Hdga pic.twitter.com/57NJcGKd3w
— ESO (@ESO) October 12, 2020
Here's a Digital View of How it Occurs:
2/ During such events, the star experiences ‘spaghettification’: its material is stretched into strands as it falls into the black hole.
Credit: @ESO /M. Kornmesser pic.twitter.com/LZ2o3Bl0m2
— ESO (@ESO) October 12, 2020
Tidal disruption events are not usually visible because of the debris and dust but this was seen clearly as it only grew brighter every day. The process took place for somewhere around six months and scientists observed it using their high-powered telescopes. Matt Nicholl, a lecturer and Royal Astronomical Society who is the lead author of this study mentions the black hole as a "monster." This occurrence proves beneficial for the team to understand how matter behaves in the extreme gravity situations or the environments surrounding supermassive black holes.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 13, 2020 08:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).