黑洞破坏路过的恒星

2020 March 24

A Black Hole Disrupts a Passing Star
Illustration Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

Explanation: What happens to a star that goes near a black hole? If the star directly impacts a massive black hole, then the star falls in completely — and everything vanishes. More likely, though, the star goes close enough to have the black hole’s gravity pull away the outer layers of the star, or disrupt the star. Then most of the star’s gas does not fall into the black hole. These stellar tidal disruption events can be as bright as a supernova, and an increasing amount of them are being discovered by automated sky surveys. In the featured artist’s illustration, a star has just passed a massive black hole and sheds gas that continues to orbit. The inner edge of a disk of gas and dust surrounding the black hole is heated by the disruption event and may glow long after the star is gone.

Tomorrow’s picture: star wings

黑洞破坏路过的恒星
图示提供: NASA , JPL-Caltech

说明: 当恒星通过黑洞附近，会发生什么事？如果恒星直接撞上大质量黑洞，它会掉进去然后消声灭迹。较常见的情况是：当恒星靠得够近时，它会受到破坏，恒星的外层会被剥去。不过，大部分的恒星气体却不会掉进黑洞里。这类的恒星潮汐破坏事件，亮度和超新星爆炸相当，而且越来越常为自动化巡天计画所记录。在上面这幅画家的图示里，恒星刚好通过大质量黑洞附近，被剥去的气体持续在轨道上运行，形成环拱在这颗黑洞周围的气体和尘埃吸积盘。其内缘受到破坏事件的加热，可能在恒星逸去后许久之后，都还在散发辉光。

明日的图片: star wings