Find out the latest thinking about our universe.
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bystander
- Apathetic Retiree
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by bystander » Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:43 pm
Stars Regularly Ripped Apart by Black Holes in Colliding Galaxies
University of Sheffield | 2017 Feb 27
[attachment=0]blackhole.jpg[/attachment]
Astronomers based at the University of Sheffield have found evidence that stars are ripped apart by supermassive black holes 100 times more often than previously thought.
Until now, such stellar cannibalism – known as Tidal Distruption Events, or TDEs – had only been found in surveys which observed many thousands of galaxies, leading astronomers to believe they were exceptionally rare: only one event every 10,000 to 100,000 years per galaxy.
However, the pioneering study conducted by leading scientists from the University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, recorded a star being destroyed by a supermassive black hole in a survey of just 15 galaxies – an extremely small sample size by astronomy standards.
“Each of these 15 galaxies is undergoing a ‘cosmic collision’ with a neighbouring galaxy,” said Dr James Mullaney, Lecturer in Astronomy and co-author of the study. ...
A Tidal Disruption Event in the Nearby Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxy F01004-2237 - C. Tadhunter
et al
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Attachments
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- Depiction of the tidal disruption event in F01004-2237. The release of
gravitational energy as the debris of the star is accreted by the black hole
leads to a flare in the optical light of the galaxy. Copyright: Mark Garlick
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BDanielMayfield
- Don't bring me down
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by BDanielMayfield » Tue Feb 28, 2017 4:35 pm
Ok, but the odds of any random star suffering this would have to be extremely remote.
Bruce
Just as zero is not equal to infinity, everything coming from nothing is illogical.
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Ann
- 4725 Å
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by Ann » Tue Feb 28, 2017 4:45 pm
BDanielMayfield wrote:Ok, but the odds of any random star suffering this would have to be extremely remote.
Bruce
Right, the risk of us and dear old Sol being ripped apart by our galaxy's central black hole, or by Andromeda's black hole when our descendants hopefully get to see our galaxies merge, is minimal, I would say!
Ann
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