Astronomers say the black hole was emitting radiation repeatedly. (Representative photo)
Astronomers have made the notable observation that a Sun-like star is “repeatedly shattered and consumed” by a black hole some 500 million light-years away. According to a report published in Guardianthe anomalous event caused periodic bursts of brightness at intervals of about 25 days, a phenomenon that has caught the attention of researchers at the University of Leicester.
Black hole explosions, commonly known as tidal disruptions, occur when a black hole engulfs a star. However, in this example, the black hole repeatedly emits radiation, showing that it causes repeated partial destruction of the star it consumed. Guardian report. Repeated eruptions lead to two different types of eruptions. One that happens every few hours and one that happens every year. The researchers noted that the observed regularities were intermediate between these two categories.
Observations have revealed an unexpected pattern in the star’s behavior. Instead of fading as expected, the star, known as Swift J0230, radiated violently for 7 to 10 days before suddenly fading, repeating the cycle about every 25 days. The study, published in Nature Astronomy, fills a critical gap in our understanding of how black holes disrupt orbiting stars.
“In most of the star systems we’ve seen so far, stars are completely destroyed. Swift J0230 is an exciting addition to the class of partially destroyed stars,” said Dr. Dr. Robert Ailes-Ferris, Ph.D.Lester said Guardian.
“For the first time, we’ve seen a sun-like star being repeatedly shattered and consumed by a low-mass black hole,” said lead author Dr. Phil Evans of the University of Leicester’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. .
Based on models of the Swift J0230 explosion, the star is estimated to be about the size of the Sun and to have an elliptical orbit around a low-mass black hole at the center of the galaxy. Calculations show that three Earth masses of material are ripped from Swift J0230’s atmosphere and heated as it plunges into the black hole, generating temperatures of about 2 million degrees Celsius and releasing a large amount of X-rays. It is said that it will be done. These X-rays of him were first detected by NASA’s Neil Gerrells Swift Observatory.
The researchers estimate the black hole’s mass is between 10,000 and 100,000 times that of the Sun, making it relatively small for a supermassive black hole.