{"id":192945,"date":"2024-03-05T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T19:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=192945"},"modified":"2024-03-04T15:09:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T01:09:20","slug":"star-ripped-apart-by-black-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/03\/05\/star-ripped-apart-by-black-hole\/","title":{"rendered":"Star ripped apart by black hole in rare discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"remnamts
Illustration shows the remnants of a star shredded by a supermassive black hole. (Credit: NASA<\/abbr>\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center\/Chris Smith (USRA<\/abbr>\/GESTAR<\/abbr>))<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Astronomers from the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> Institute for Astronomy<\/a> (IfA<\/abbr>) have uncovered the closest recorded occurrence of a star being torn apart by a supermassive black hole (SMBH<\/abbr>). Using the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN<\/abbr>) system, on February 22, 2023,the team detected a sudden surge in brightness followed by a rapid dimming in the galaxy NGC<\/abbr> 3799, located about 160 million light-years from Earth.<\/p>\n

“While black holes destroying stars have been seen before, this is the first one we have seen this close using visible light,” said Willem Hoogendam, an IfA<\/abbr> graduate student who co-led the research. “This could give us a much better understanding of how SMBH<\/abbr>s grow and collect material around them.”<\/p>\n

\"atlas
IfA<\/abbr> operates four telescopes, two are in South Africa and Chile. The other two are on Maunaloa and Haleakal\u0101 (above). (Photo credit: Henry Weiland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Follow-up observations were taken with IfA<\/abbr>\u2019s Asteroid Terrestrial Last Alert System<\/a> (ATLAS) telescopes on Maunaloa and Haleakal\u0101, W.M. Keck Observatory<\/a> on Maunakea, and other ground- and space-based observatories. Hoogendam, working with fellow IfA<\/abbr> grad student Jason Hinkle and faculty advisor Ben Shappee, analyzed these data to determine that the burst of brightness was caused by a Tidal Disruption Event (TDE<\/abbr>). TDE<\/abbr>s happen when a star gets too close to a SMBH<\/abbr> and is torn apart by its strong gravitational force, with the black hole devouring the star’s mass. Research findings will be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.<\/p>\n

“This discovery suggests that black holes ripping stars apart nearby could be more common than previously thought—we just haven\u2019t witnessed it happening frequently,” said Hoogendam.<\/p>\n

Rare find<\/h2>\n

The intense brightness produced by the star\u2019s mass feeding the black hole creates a luminous flare, which all-sky surveys like ASAS-SN<\/abbr> can observe. While such events have been detected far away from Earth, finding one relatively close by is rare. ASASSN<\/abbr>-23bd, as the event is known, is a remarkable nearby TDE<\/abbr>, making it an excellent subject for further study.<\/p>\n

The astronomers found that ASASSN<\/abbr>-23bd was unlike many other TDE<\/abbr>s they had observed before:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • It emitted much less energy than previous TDE<\/abbr>s<\/li>\n
  • It was the closest TDE<\/abbr> discovered using visible light<\/li>\n
  • Its change in brightness happened about twice as fast as most TDE<\/abbr>s<\/li>\n
  • ASASSN<\/abbr>-23bd is in a unique category of objects known as low luminosity and Fast TDE<\/abbr>s<\/li>\n
  • luminosity and Fast TDE<\/abbr>s<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Research led by astronomers from the Institute for Astronomy show the event occurred about 160 million light-years from Earth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[34,656,35,1467,1363,659,1421,1164,9],"class_list":["post-192945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-astronomy","tag-haleakala","tag-institute-for-astronomy","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-maunakea","tag-maunakea-observatories","tag-telescope","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t