In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers from NASA and ISRO have observed stunning eruptions from the remnants of a star torn apart by a supermassive black hole. This cosmic event, first detected in 2019, has now revealed unprecedented insights into the interactions between stellar debris and a second celestial object. The findings were made possible by NASA’s Chandra, NICER, and Hubble observatories, in collaboration with India’s AstroSat mission.
Stellar Destruction and Aftermath
In 2019, astronomers witnessed a star being pulled into a supermassive black hole in what’s known as a tidal disruption event (TDE). The star was shredded by the black hole’s immense gravitational forces, forming an accretion disk—a swirling mass of stellar debris surrounding the black hole. For years, the disk appeared stable, but recently it began expanding and interacting with a second object, which could be another star or possibly a smaller black hole.
This second object is now colliding with the accretion disk every 48 hours, producing dramatic eruptions of X-rays. “Imagine a diver entering a pool and creating a splash. Here, the star acts as the diver, and the disk as the pool, producing cosmic ‘splashes’ of gas and X-rays,” explained Matt Nicholl of Queen’s University Belfast.
Uncovering Quasi-Periodic Eruptions (QPEs)
These X-ray eruptions, called quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs), have long puzzled astronomers. They are bursts of energy occurring at regular intervals, but their connection to tidal disruption events had remained unclear. “This discovery is like solving two cosmic mysteries at once,” said Dheeraj Pasham from MIT. The eruptions, now definitively linked to the TDE event, shed light on the cause of these phenomena.
Observations Across the Globe
The event, dubbed AT2019qiz, was first detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility in 2019. NASA’s Chandra Observatory and NICER, a space station-based instrument, closely monitored the X-ray outbursts, confirming that they occurred every 48 hours. India’s AstroSat played a crucial role in these observations, providing valuable ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray data.
Gulab Dewangan of IUCAA in Pune highlighted AstroSat’s contribution, saying, “AstroSat’s unique UV and X-ray capabilities enabled us to detect the source, though the eruptions were visible only in X-rays.”
Breakthrough in Black Hole Research
The discovery is hailed as a breakthrough in understanding QPEs and the dynamics of stellar debris near black holes. “We now understand that it takes years for the debris disk to expand and interact with another object, causing these periodic eruptions,” said Andrew Mummery of Oxford University.
This collaboration between NASA, ISRO, and international researchers marks a significant step forward in unraveling the mysteries of black holes and their complex interactions with surrounding celestial bodies.
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