Updated 11:04 IST, October 15th 2020
Supermassive Black hole kills a nearby star by 'Spaghettification,' find details here
European Space Agency's telescopes have spotted a supermassive black hole ripping a nearby star to shreds. Read on to learn more about the celestial event.
European Southern Telescopes recently spotted a rare flash of light coming from a dying star. The event was observed when an unlucky star had tread too close to a black hole and was being ripped apart by the supermassive black hole. This "tidal disruption event" is one of the rarest celestial events. The event creates what is termed as ‘spaghettification’ in stars as they stretch and stretch. Read on to know more about this event:
Supermassive Blackhole eats a nearby star
A new study was published in the European Southern Observatory’s official website, titled as Death by Spaghettification: ESO Telescopes Record Last Moments of Star Devoured by a Black Hole. Its lead author is Matt Nicholl, a lecturer and Royal Astronomical Society research fellow at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Nicholl revealed in the study that researchers caught the event in action using numerous telescopes, including ESO's Very Large Telescope and New Technology Telescope.
What is spaghettification?
Thomas Wevers who is a fellow author of the study and a researcher in Santiago, Chile, explained that when an unlucky star wanders too close to a supermassive black hole in the centre of a galaxy, the extreme gravitational pull of the black hole shreds the star into thin streams of material, which is essentially known as Spaghettification. In the past, it was nearly impossible to be able to witness these larger than life sort of celestial events because the black hole eating up the star would often shoot out material from the dying star, mostly dust, and it would obscure the view of the telescopes. The Researchers studied this event, known as AT 2019 qiz, for over six months as the flare became bright and then faded away into oblivion.
He further stated that a similar spaghettification event also took place only 215 million light-years from Earth in the past. For context, it is important to note that the nearest star system to Earth is Alpha Centauri, which is roughly 4 light-years away from Earth. Moreover, the Milky Way is roughly 200,000 light-years in diameter. Also, one light-year is the distance light travels in a year, which is about 6 trillion miles.
Observations were made in ultraviolet, optical, X-ray and radio wavelengths. The material that leaves the star and the flare that escapes at the end can be seen as the star's dying gasp. The AT 2019 qiz also acts as a bellwether in understanding how matter behaves in the extreme environments especially around supermassive black holes.
Image Source: European Southern Observatory (official website)
Published 11:04 IST, October 15th 2020