- Giant Black Hole A large star 290 million light years away was destroyed and its fragments were thrown into space.
- NASA‘s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM Newton followed up on the event for information.
- X-ray data reveal the relative abundance of nitrogen compared to carbon in the star’s debris region.
- Comparisons with models show that a star three times the mass of the Sun was destroyed, making it one of the largest known tidal disruption events.
Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s XMM Newton, and other telescopes to determine that a massive black hole destroyed a massive star, scattering its contents into space. By analyzing the details of the X-ray data, the researchers were able to estimate the relative abundance of nitrogen compared to carbon in the aftermath of this gravitational attack. These elements provide researchers with valuable clues about what kinds of stars met their demise.
Artistic representation of the event
The artist’s illustrations (at the top of this article) bring ‘ ‘ to life.Tidal disruption phenomenon(TDE) is called ASASSN-14li, which is the focus of the latest research. When the star got too close to the supermassive black hole in the system, the strong gravitational force ripped the star apart. This painter’s impression depicts the aftermath of this destruction. After the star was torn apart, some of its gas (red) orbited and fell into the black hole. Some of the gas was blown away by the wind (blue).
Element analysis
Scientists used X-ray spectra from Chandra and XMM, a plot of X-ray brightness compared to wavelength, to study the elements in this wind. The Chandra spectrum is shown in the inset, the data are shown in blue (jagged lines) and the uncertainty of each data point is indicated by the blue vertical line. A model of the spectrum is shown in red, highlighting the detection of nitrogen from the dip in the spectrum and the absence of carbon from the absence of the dip.
The amount of nitrogen and the maximum amount of carbon that can escape detection gives the minimum ratio of nitrogen to carbon that is consistent with the data. This value indicates that the shredded star of ASASSN-14li was about three times the mass of the Sun. This would be one of the largest stars known to have been destroyed by TDE.
Historical background and future implications
ASASSN-14li was first discovered by ground-based telescopes in November 2014, when it turned out to be the closest TDE in about a decade. Since then, many telescopes, including Chandra, have observed the system.
ASASSN-14li is interesting not only for its unusual size and detailed forensics of the destroyed star, but also for what it might mean for future research. Astronomers have observed moderately massive stars like ASASSN-14li in star clusters containing supermassive black holes at the center of our galaxy. Thus, being able to estimate the mass of tidal-disturbed stars may give astronomers a way to identify the presence of star clusters around supermassive black holes in more distant galaxies.
Prior to this study, the elements observed in X-rays were likely derived from gases ejected in previous eruptions from supermassive black holes. But the elemental pattern analyzed here looks like it came from a single star.
Reference: “Evidence for large-scale stellar collapse in the X-ray spectrum of ASASSN-14li” John M. Miller, Brenna Mockler, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, Paul A. Dragis, Jeremy J. Drake, John Raymond, Mark T. Reynolds, Singh Shang, Sol Bin Yun, Abdelahmen Zogbi, 21 Aug 2023, of Astrophysics Journal Letter.
DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ace03c
A paper describing these results states: Astrophysics Journal Letter. Authors are Jon M. Miller (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), Brenna Mockler (Carnegie Observatory), Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (University of California, Santa Cruz), Paul Draghis (University of Michigan), Jeremy Drake (Center for Astrophysics). | Harvard University and Smithsonian University), John Raymond (CFAs), Mark Reynolds (University of Michigan), Xin Xiang (University of Michigan), Sol Bin Yun (University of Michigan), and Abdelahmen Zogbi (University of Maryland).
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Chandra X-Ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory manages scientific operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.