Illustration of a tidal disruption occasion
Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
Astronomers have caught a supermassive black hole consuming a giant star within the greatest and brightest instance of this highly effective occasion ever seen. It could possibly be the lacking hyperlink that helps us perceive mysteriously vibrant cosmic objects within the centres of some lively galaxies.
When a black hole gobbles up a star, it doesn’t occur in a single titanic gulp – as a substitute, the star is torn aside in a violent course of known as a tidal disruption occasion (TDE). These are among the brightest occasions within the sky. Edo Berger…