A black hole shredded a “super sun” — but something strange may have survived
Astronomers have observed a rare cosmic event where a black hole shredded a massive star, releasing energy 400 billion times greater than the Sun. The event, designated AT2024wpp, is classified as a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT).
Why it matters
Studying these extreme events helps scientists understand the life cycles of stars and the behavior of black holes in the distant universe.
A massive star has been torn apart and gradually consumed by a black hole in a spectacular event that scientists compared to "preparing a snack for lunch."
Astronomers around the world observed the extreme encounter, and the event was presented at the AAS conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Researchers described the star as being "torn up" as the immense gravity of the black hole pulled it apart and consumed its material piece by piece.
Associate Professor of Astrophysics Daniel Perley, of Liverpool John Moores University, is the lead author of a paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. He told the conference: "We discovered what we think is a black hole merging with a massive companion star, shredding it into a disk that feeds the black hole. It's a rare and awe-inspiring phenomenon."
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