Supermassive black hole rips star apart (simulation)

Niels Bohr Institutet
1.516 views
12. december 2016
This simulation shows a star getting torn apart by the gravitational tides of a supermassive black hole. The star gets “spaghettified” and after several orbits creates an accretion disc. Scientists believe that the superluminous ASASSN-15lh event originated in this way. The view on the right is from the side and that at the left face on.

Credit:
ESO, ESA/Hubble, N. Stone, K. Hayasaki