Black Hole with mass of 20 suns destroys star, emits intense X-rays and visible light

An atypical study led by a group of researchers from the Astrophysical Institute of Andalusia in Granada, Spain, has detected yet another tidal disruption event (TDE), which is believed to be one of the rarest occurrences in the universe.

However, the astronomers have hypothesized that such events may be more common but have not been witnessed earlier.

Going by the theorists, this is the first time that a star with around two solar masses came apart at the seams when it encountered a black hole with the mass of 20 suns. It also launched jets of material outward from the poles of the disk while emitting intense X-rays and visible light. The entire procedure is being held at a speed of light.

“Never before have we been able to directly observe the formation and evolution of a jet from one of TDEs,” said co-lead author Dr Miguel Perez-Torres.

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The original event was detected on January 30, 2005, when astronomers used the William Herschel Telescope to discover a burst of IR emission coming from the nucleus of one of the Arp 299 galaxies.

On July 17, 2005, NSF’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) revealed another one, distinct source of radio emission from the same location.