"Dream, Dream, Dream! Conduct these dreams into thoughts, and then transform them into action."
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
27 Jan 2023
The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured an incredible image of a star being devoured by a black hole located 300 million light years away. This event, known as a tidal disruption event, occurs when a star gets too close to a black hole and is pulled in by its immense gravitational force. As the star is pulled in, it is stretched and torn apart, creating a bright flare of light that can be observed from Earth.
The star that was captured in the recent image is located in a galaxy called 2MASX J07001137-6602251. As it was being pulled into the black hole, the star's material was heated to millions of degrees, creating a bright flare of ultraviolet and X-ray light. The bright flare of light has been observed by several telescopes, including the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite and NASA's Swift satellite.
The image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope provides scientists with a unique opportunity to study the behavior of black holes and the effects they have on the stars and matter around them. By studying the light emitted by the star as it is being devoured, scientists can learn more about the properties of the black hole and the material it is consuming.
Additionally, this observation can also be a way to detect black holes that are otherwise invisible. Tidal disruption events are rare, with only a few dozen observed in the past few decades. However, by studying these events, scientists can learn more about the population of black holes in the universe and how they affect the matter around them.