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2 clusters · 6 sources · 11 days · First seen · Last updated
Stellar rotation and black hole tidal disruption events
Overview
Astrophysicists have proposed a solution to the mystery of why certain repeating partial tidal disruption events (rpTDEs) produce flares that grow progressively dimmer with each encounter. Research published in The Astrophysical Journal suggests that a star’s rapid rotation or spin prior to its encounter with a supermassive black hole is the primary factor.
In these events, a star passes close enough to a black hole to lose a fraction of its mass without being entirely destroyed, allowing the stellar core to remain in orbit for subsequent passes. While some systems produce consistent flares, approximately 40% of identified repeating systems show a steady decline in brightness.
Hydrodynamical simulations indicate that high initial stellar spin limits the amount of additional rotation a black hole can add to the star during each encounter, which explains the fading light. Researchers suggest this high initial rotation may result from the breakup of a tight binary star system, a process that may also trap the star in its orbit near the black hole.
Entities
The Astrophysical Journal · Syracuse University · NASA · Ananya Bandopadhyay
Timeline
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10 days ago
[TECHNOLOGY] 3 sourcesStellar spin may explain fading black hole flaresResearchers at Syracuse University suggest that a star's spin may explain why light flares from repeating partial tidal disruption events near supermassive black holes grow progressively dimmer.
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21 days ago
[TECHNOLOGY] 3 sourcesRapid stellar rotation explains fading black hole flaresResearchers at Syracuse University found that rapid stellar rotation explains why some repeating black hole flares grow dimmer over time during partial tidal disruption events.
Sources
news.syr.edu · pollinators.ie · thebrighterside.news · theweather.net · time.news · yourweather.co.uk