A star has been destroyed by a wandering supermassive black hole
a year ago
- #astronomy
- #tidal-disruption
- #black-hole
- A system in 2024 detected an unusual brightening object, later identified as the first visual-wavelength tidal disruption event (TDE).
- The TDE, named AT2024tvd, involved a star being torn apart by a supermassive black hole not located at the galaxy's center.
- The Zwicky Transient Facility, which scans the northern sky every two days, initially missed identifying AT2024tvd as a TDE due to its off-center location.
- Supermassive black holes typically reside at galaxy centers, so the software only flagged potential TDEs aligned with known light sources.
- AT2024tvd was over 2,500 light years from the galaxy center, leading to its initial misclassification until closer examination revealed its true nature.