This Awesome Illustration Shows A Glowing Stream Of Material From A Star, Being Left Behind As It Was

This awesome illustration shows a glowing stream of material from a star, being left behind as it was being devoured by a supermassive black hole! The black hole is surrounded by a ring of dust. 

When a star passes a black hole and is close enough to be swallowed, stellar material gets stretched and compressed as it is pulled in. A black hole’s destruction of a star, called “stellar tidal disruption,” releases an enormous amount of energy, brightening the surroundings in an event called a flare. 

In recent years, a few dozen such flares have been discovered, but they are not well understood.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech