Massive Black Hole Shreds Passing Star

A star approaching too close to a massive black hole is torn apart by tidal forces, as shown in this artist's rendering. 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.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab

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Astronomers have observed material being blown away from a black hole after it tore a star apart, using a trio of X-ray telescopes. The artist's illustration depicts material from a shredded star (reddish-orange streak) that is pulled towards the black hole. The X-ray spectrum obtained with Chandra provides information about how material starts falling toward the black hole, plus evidence for a wind carrying some of the material away from the black hole.

Credit: Spectrum: NASA/CXC/U.Michigan/J.Miller et al.; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

3840x2160 resolution still image from animation.