The destruction of a star by a supermassive black hole is an ordinary event in the Universe. However, recently astronomers
What is known
At the end of 2020, astronomers witnesseda rare celestial light show as a black hole stretched out a star. This event occurred at a distance of about 200 million light years from our planet, which was a record in the entire history of observations.
However, scientists recently saw how in the galaxy NGC 7392 a supermassive black hole tore apart a passing star. This cosmic cataclysm occurred at a distance of 137 million light years from us.
Similar events happen when a star passesclose enough for the tidal forces from the supermassive black hole to overcome the gravity of the star and destroy it. Some of the matter forms an accretion disk, and some is ejected.
An event in the galaxy NGC 7392 has been designatedWTP14adbjsh. It was discovered using the NEOWISE space telescope. The star was destroyed by a black hole whose mass is 107.5-7.8 solar masses. Such observations are important for scientists, because allow us to learn more about the formation of accretion disks.