The longest-lasting tidal disruption event from a distant supermassive black hole has now surpassed a decade in duration. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UNH/D.Lin et al, Optical: CFHT, Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss.

Black hole caught devouring star for an entire decade

It’s the longest feast we’ve ever seen, and it’s still going on! But why?

“Put two ships in the open sea, without wind or tide, and, at last, they will come together. Throw two planets into space, and they will fall one on the other. Place two enemies in the midst of a crowd, and they will inevitably meet; it is a fatality, a question of time; that is all.” -Jules Verne

When an object passes close to a black hole, it experiences tremendous tidal forces compressing and stretching it, capable of tearing it completely apart.

This artist’s impression depicts a Sun-like star being torn apart by tidal disruption as it nears a black hole. Image credit: ESO, ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser.

The parts closest to the black hole experience the greatest gravitational force, fragmenting the object in a tidal disruption event (TDE).

High-resolution image of the fragments of the comet tidally torn apart by Jupiter, prior to the ultimate impact. With a large enough mass, even stars can be torn apart. Image credit: NASA, ESA, and H. Weaver and E. Smith (STScI).

Although most of the matter gets ejected, some gets accelerated towards the black hole, where it heats up, causing an intense emission of X-rays.