Cosmic feast: Supermassive black hole seen eating a star, then attacking another

The universe, our home, has once again astounded us with its grand spectacle. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, together with a league of other telescopes, captured a supermassive black hole and the remnants of an unfortunate star.

It ripped a star apart and began to feast on its remains with a tremendous appetite before setting its sights on another star, or possibly a smaller black hole.

Star drawn to black hole

Picture a scene straight out of a cosmic horror tale: a star drawn into the deadly embrace of a supermassive black hole.

A ghastly end awaits as the stellar body is torn asunder by the black hole's incredibly potent tidal forces.

This astounding event is no figment of the imagination, but a real, observed phenomenon known as a tidal disruption event (TDE), dubbed as AT2019qiz.

While dealing with the daunting task of observing TDEs, scientists had their plates full with another cosmic enigma, the "quasi-periodic eruptions" (QPEs).

These rare bursts of X-ray activity near black holes form a rhythm, breaking the silence in the cosmic void .

Linking the cosmic conundrums

What do TDEs and QPEs have in common? Well, NASA's study suggests that these two may not be as disconnected as they seem.

It postulates that QPEs likely herald an object's collision with the debris disc created by a TDE. While there may be other explanations, our researchers believe this collision theory holds water for some, if not all, of QPEs.

Star disruption by black hole

In the year 2023, astronomers utilized both Chandra and the Hubble Telescope to peruse the remnants left after the tidal disruption.

Employing NASA's Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer ( NICER ), they observed AT2019qiz for recurring X-ray bursts.

The data showed these eruptions occurring approximately every 48 hours, further bolstered by observations from NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and India's AstroSat telescope .

The Hubble , in tandem with Chandra, provided insights on the size of the disc surrounding the supermassive black hole.

The findings suggest that the disc is of sufficient size that any object in close orbit around the black hole would inevitably collide with the disc, triggering more eruptions.

Understanding these eruptions might just provide the key to detecting more quasi-periodic eruptions linked to tidal disruptions.

And who knows? It could lead to the discovery of new objects in close orbits around these phenomena, potentially paving the way for future gravitational wave observation projects.

Implications for astrophysics

This remarkable discovery on star disruption holds profound implications for the field of astrophysics, challenging and expanding our understanding of a black hole and its environments.

The ability to observe the pattern between a black hole and its cosmic neighborhood provides unparalleled insights into the dynamics of cataclysmic events.

Such detailed observations of tidal disruption events can help refine existing models of black hole accretion and the resultant emission mechanisms.

Moreover, they potentially unlock new avenues of inquiry into the fabric of spacetime itself, as these massive entities provide a natural laboratory for testing the limits of general relativity and exploring the nature of gravity under extreme conditions.

Future prospects

As we stand on the cusp of new astronomical discoveries, the potential for future exploration seems boundless.

The coordinated efforts of multiple observatories have proved essential in peeling back the layers of the universe's most enigmatic phenomena.

Continuing to leverage advancements in observational technology and data analytics, researchers aim to map more pathways into the cosmic unknown .

This expanded understanding might not only lead to the identification of additional quasars and pulsars but also extend to detecting gravitational waves and pinpointing signals indicative of other universes or dimensions.

These endeavors underscore the unrelenting human quest for knowledge and our innate drive to chart the vast and incomprehensible universe we inhabit.

Science behind the discovery

The findings that led to this startling discovery have been published in an extensive paper, appearing in the October issue of esteemed journal Nature .

The primary author, Matt Nicholl, hails from Queen's University Belfast in Ireland and adds significant credence to these findings.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center governs the Chandra program. Meanwhile, science operations are managed from Cambridge, Massachusetts, by The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center, while flight operations take place in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Stars, black hole and the universe

So, what can we take away from this interstellar revelation? The universe keeps astounding us with its awe-inspiring mysteries and untouched secrets, and it is our quest to uncover them.

With every discovery lies a trail of questions and an insatiable curiosity to learn more. So, stay tuned with the latest research as scientists continue to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos one black hole at a time.

The study is published in the journal arXiv .

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