TESS Catches its First Star-destroying Black Hole

No views Aug 27, 2023
When a star strays too close to a black hole, intense tides break it apart into a stream of gas. The tail of the stream escapes the system, while the rest of it swings back around, surrounding the black hole with a disk of debris. This video includes images of a tidal disruption event called ASASSN-19bt taken by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Swift missions, as well as an animation showing how the event unfolded.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Music: "Games Show Sphere 03" from Universal Production Music