Huge Hungry Hole Scoffs Silly Star
By Steve Robinson
NASA were lucky to spot something rather unusual recently - a huge, hungry celestial body getting a mouthful of star. The unfortunate star wandered too close to a black hole, the universe's ultimate chompers, was captured and subsequently dismantled.
Like the perfect sit-and-wait predator, the black hole had been sitting in a stable orbit for millennia before a star crept a little too near. But once within range the star was ripped apart by the monumental gravitational forces of the 'hole. The star’s death throes triggered a burst of ultraviolet radiation, which was picked up by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
The telescope has continued to watch the drama unfold in the hope that this incident will shed light on the inner workings of black holes, and how they mould their host galaxies.
"This will help us greatly in weighing black holes in the universe, and in understanding how they feed and grow in their host galaxies as the universe evolves," remarked Dr. Christopher Martin of Caltech, the principal investigator for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
Black holes have been suspected of chewing on stars in the past, though results were somewhat inconclusive due to a lack of technology. With the advent of NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, scientists have been able to use the telescope to watch the ultraviolet flares associated with star-consumption. It took over two years for the data to be amassed, but the results show an impressive, and rare, galactic event.
"This type of event is very rare, so we are lucky to study the entire process from beginning to end," said Dr. Suvi Gezari of the California Institute of Technology.
The black hole in question is believed to be tens of millions of times as huge as our sun. But before you choke on your tea at the thought of our very own Sol biting the dust, just remember that the black hole in question is over 4 billion light-years away. And what with the rarity of such an event, there is no need to panic just yet. Still, it's food for thought.
Like the perfect sit-and-wait predator, the black hole had been sitting in a stable orbit for millennia before a star crept a little too near. But once within range the star was ripped apart by the monumental gravitational forces of the 'hole. The star’s death throes triggered a burst of ultraviolet radiation, which was picked up by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
The telescope has continued to watch the drama unfold in the hope that this incident will shed light on the inner workings of black holes, and how they mould their host galaxies.
"This will help us greatly in weighing black holes in the universe, and in understanding how they feed and grow in their host galaxies as the universe evolves," remarked Dr. Christopher Martin of Caltech, the principal investigator for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
Black holes have been suspected of chewing on stars in the past, though results were somewhat inconclusive due to a lack of technology. With the advent of NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, scientists have been able to use the telescope to watch the ultraviolet flares associated with star-consumption. It took over two years for the data to be amassed, but the results show an impressive, and rare, galactic event.
"This type of event is very rare, so we are lucky to study the entire process from beginning to end," said Dr. Suvi Gezari of the California Institute of Technology.
The black hole in question is believed to be tens of millions of times as huge as our sun. But before you choke on your tea at the thought of our very own Sol biting the dust, just remember that the black hole in question is over 4 billion light-years away. And what with the rarity of such an event, there is no need to panic just yet. Still, it's food for thought.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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