images

Supermassive black hole with torn-apart star

by

Nasa/ESA/ESO/Novapix

Reference

a-blh01-00034

Date

2017-01-26

This artist’s impression depicts a rapidly spinning supermassive black hole surrounded by an accretion disc. This thin disc of rotating material consists of the leftovers of a Sun-like star which was ripped apart by the tidal forces of the black hole. Shocks in the colliding debris as well as heat generated in accretion led to a burst of light, resembling a supernova explosion.