When a star strays too close to a black hole, what happens? Some stars are ripped apart and others survive a close encounter with a black hole only a little worse for wear.
Scientists built a simulation and tested it on different types of stars to figure out the dynamics of such an event. 1 million times the mass of the Sun is how much stars were sent towards.
They found something that was surprising.
The stars they modeled ranged in size from one-tenth to 10 times the Sun's mass. All the stars were sent away from the black hole.
The good news is that the Sun-like star was able to survive its close approach. The stars that survived had a lot of solar mass. The stars that were less than a tenth of the Sun's mass were torn apart.
Why is the disparity different?
The researchers realized that the star's size wasn't the main factor in its survival. The difference between survival and destruction was dependent on the star. You can see the details in the video.
In the simulation, yellow is the most dense and blue is the least dense.
The simulations were led by a person named Taeho Ryu. The simulations combine the physical effects of Einstein's general theory of relativity with realistic stellar density models.
The results will help astronomy estimate how often full tidal disruptions occur in the universe and will help them in building more accurate pictures of these catastrophic events.
You can see all the simulations from NASA.
The paper was published in the Astrophysical Journal.
The illustration shows four snapshots of a virtual Sun-like star as it approaches a black hole with 1 million times the Sun's mass. The star stretches, looses some mass, and then begins to regain its shape as it moves away from the black hole.
