Israeli astrophysicists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have carried out a complex simulation of one of the most impressive cosmic catastrophes – the so-called tidal disruption event (TDE). It occurs when a star is pulled into a supermassive black hole. The study was published on: magazine Nature.
When a star approaches the gravitational funnel, its impact creates an enormous tidal force inside the star. These forces cause the star to stretch vertically and compress horizontally, turning the fireball into a thin thread of stellar plasma in a process known as “spaghettification.”
The plasma spaghetti then falls towards the black hole, heating up and creating a cascade of emissions. At the same time, stellar material emits very bright flares that can outshine the combined light of all stars in the surrounding galaxy for weeks or even months.
Using computer modeling, scientists discovered a previously unknown type of emissions that occur during TDEs. It turned out that the energy released in this case was consumed faster than scientists thought.
Earlier astronomers discovered A mysterious object in space that resembles an ultra-light black hole.