Jan 8
'Super star' being shredded by black hole releases as much energy as 400 billion suns
"This staggeringly powerful example of a Tidal Disruption Event (TDE) was many times more energetic than any similar event and more than any known explosion powered by the collapse of a star."
TDEs occur when stars wander too close to black holes. The immense gravity surrounding black holes generates strong tidal forces that simultaneously squash and stretch these stars.
Even among these powerful and violent events, the "Whippet", officially designated AT2024wpp, stands out as one of the biggest cosmic explosions ever seen, a TDE on a completely different scale.
#astronomy#astrophysics#black holes#tidal disruption event#TDE#AT2024wpp#the whippet#space#nasa#cosmic explosions#supermassive black holes#stellar death#extreme physics#gravitational forces#tidal forces#x-ray astronomy#gamma ray astronomy#observational astronomy#stellar shredding#accretion disk#relativistic jets#galaxies#galactic cores#universe#cosmos#science news#space news
