A Star Came too Close to a Black Hole and was Torn Apart. Surprisingly Little Actually Went In - by spacewriter
That’s why studying an actual star as it meets its doom is so important. The Berkeley group zeroed in on one that got too close to a black hole in an event called “AT2019qiz”. The disaster occurred some 215 million light-years away from Earth in a spiral galaxy in the constellation Eridanus. As the star spiraled into the accretion disk, it got shredded. Then something wonderfully unexpected happened. And, it took some special effort to see it.
For AT2019qiz, the spectropolarimetry observations revealed that much of star’s material never made it into the black hole’s hungry maw. Some got smeared across space. However, the intense winds from the black hole also created a spherically symmetrical high-speed cloud of leftover stellar material. The teaem clocked it rushing out at about 10,000 kilometers per second. That cloud definitely provided some surprises.
“People have been seeing other evidence of wind coming out of these events,” said Koshore Patra, a graduate student and lead author of the study. “I think this polarization study definitely makes that evidence stronger, in the sense that you wouldn’t get a spherical geometry without having a sufficient amount of wind.
Polarized light from these types of bright “eruptions” is a valuable tool to map these events. Ultimately, such observations could help build a “tomographic” picture of a tidal disruption event as it evolves—even if it’s in a galaxy far, far away.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Harrison Ford’s 80th birthday includes a tribute from ‘Star Wars’ co-star Mark HamillLet's all give the actor a 'Han' for his birthday.
Read more »
‘The Lovers’: ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ & ‘Black Mirror’ Star Alice Eve Joins Cast Of Sky Comedy-Drama SeriesEXCLUSIVE: Star Trek Into Darkness, Black Mirror and Belgravia star Alice Eve has joined the cast of Sky’s upcoming comedy-drama series The Lovers. Eve will join a cast that includes the like…
Read more »
The Ultimate Fate of a Star Shredded by a Black Hole: Spaghettified at 22 Million Miles per HourMuch of star’s mass in 2019 tidal disruption ended up in symmetrical cloud that hid black hole. In 2019, astronomers observed the closest example to date of a star that was shredded, or “spaghettified,” after approaching too close to a massive black hole. That tidal disruption of a sun-like st
Read more »
Scammers are blackmailing restaurants across the US with one-star Google reviews | EngadgetFor the past week, a handful of high-profile and Michelin-starred restaurants from San Francisco to New York City have been targeted in an extortion campaign weaponizing Google reviews..
Read more »
2022 MLB All-Star Game: Check Out AL, NL UniformsMLB and Nike released the uniforms that will be worn at the 2022 MLB All-Star Game. Check out the jerseys and hats the stars will wear at Dodger Stadium.
Read more »