'Lucky' observation: Scientists watch a black hole shredding a star
A NASA satellite searching space for new planets gave astronomers an unexpected glimpse at a black hole ripping a star to shreds.
A NASA satellite searching space for new planets gave astronomers an unexpected glimpse at a black hole ripping a star to shreds.
Astronomy
Sep 26, 2019
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On Nov. 11, 2014, a global network of telescopes picked up signals from 300 million light years away that were created by a tidal disruption flare—an explosion of electromagnetic energy that occurs when a black hole rips ...
Astronomy
Mar 19, 2018
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In the center of a distant galaxy, almost 300 million light years from Earth, scientists have discovered a supermassive black hole that is "choking" on a sudden influx of stellar debris.
Astronomy
Mar 15, 2017
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Roughly 90 percent of the biggest black holes in the known universe are dormant, meaning that they are not actively devouring matter and, consequently, not giving off any light or other radiation. But sometimes a star wanders ...
Astronomy
Jun 22, 2016
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When a star comes too close to a black hole, the intense gravity of the black hole results in tidal forces that can rip the star apart. In these events, called tidal disruptions, some of the stellar debris is flung outward ...
Astronomy
Oct 21, 2015
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Star-shredding black holes are everywhere in the sky if you just know how to look for them. That's one message from a new study by MIT scientists, appearing today in The Astrophysical Journal.
Astronomy
Jan 29, 2024
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A significant breakthrough in understanding Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) involving supermassive black holes has been discovered. The new simulations, for the first time ever, accurately replicate the entire sequence of ...
Astronomy
Jan 17, 2024
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Much of the matter in the universe remains unknown and undefined, yet theoretical physicists continue to gain clues to the properties of dark matter and black holes. A study by a team of scientists including three from Stony ...
Astronomy
Aug 16, 2022
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A faraway galaxy with almost no dark matter has threatened to break our theory of galaxy formation. New evidence suggests the galaxy isn't an anomaly—but a victim of theft.
Astronomy
Nov 27, 2020
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A giant black hole ripped apart a nearby star and then continued to feed off its remains for close to a decade, according to research led by the University of New Hampshire. This black hole meal is more than 10 times longer ...
Astronomy
Feb 6, 2017
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