Different telescopes of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), they caught a black hole eating a star. The event occurred on Tuesday, December 20.
The black hole was located about 250 million light years from Earth, specifically in the center of another galaxy.
“Recent observations of a black hole devouring a rogue star may help scientists understand more complex black hole feeding behaviors,” NASA said.
This was the number five closest example of a star-destroying black hole “ever observed.”
The event is known as tidal disruption, and it surprised space agency scientists.
In addition, NASA added that the gravity of the black hole ripped the star apart. They noted that “astronomers saw a dramatic increase in high-energy X-ray light around the black hole.”
So as the stellar material was pulled into the black hole, an “extremely hot structure on top of the opening called the corona” formed.
“Once the star was completely broken apart by the black hole’s gravity, astronomers saw a dramatic increase in high-energy X-ray light around the black hole. This, as it approached the hole, formed an extremely hot structure on the black hole called the corona,” the space agency reported.
It is pertinent to mention that, as specified by NASA, the satellite NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescopic Array) “is the most sensitive space telescope capable of observing these wavelengths of light. As well as the proximity of the event provided an unprecedented view of the formation and evolution of the corona. The information is according to a new study published Astrophysical Journal”.
“The work demonstrates how the destruction of a star by a black hole. A process formally known as a tidal disruption event could be used to better understand what happens to material captured by one of these giants before it is completely swallowed.”