Tidal disruption events
A SIMULATION RECONSTRUCTS A VIOLENT CLASH AS A MONSTER BLACK HOLE SPAGHETTIFIES A STAR
A new reconstruction tells the full story of a star ripped apart by a ravenous black hole in a tidal disruption event
Reported by Robert Lea
Scientists have used a sophisticated simulation to reconstruct the brutal death of a star that wandered too close to a supermassive black hole and was shredded to bits. The team, led by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Racah Institute of Physics, retold the entire story of this so-called tidal disruption event (TDE) for the first time and saw an unknown type of shock wave occur during the gory process. They also found that the dissipation of these shock waves powered an exceptionally intense flare during the event’s brightest weeks.