Tidal Disruption Event (TDE)

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

A mysterious and intensely bright flash of light coming from halfway across the universe earlier this year had stunned astronomers worldwide. The source of the intense beam has now been identified — a supermassive black hole ripping apart a star, pointing directly at Earth.

Tidal Disruption Event (TDE)

• The jet of light was brighter than 1,000 trillion suns. 
• Scientists from multiple institutions, including India, helped trace the activity powered by the black hole, 8.5 billion light years away from Earth.
• The activity is called a tidal disruption event (TDE), which happens when a black hole shreds a nearby star as it feeds on it. 
• As this happens, the supermassive black hole spews a jet of particles moving close to the speed of light.
• This signal was detected in February 2022. Soon, astronomers turned multiple telescopes, scanning the light in various wavelengths: X-ray, ultraviolet, optical and radio bands. 

About Blackholes

• A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot escape.
• The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.

Visibility:

• Because no light can get out, they are invisible.
• Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes.
• The gasses swirling around actually help in getting their images.

Example: The supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy is called Sagittarius A.

• It has a mass equal to about 4 million suns and would fit inside a very large ball that could hold a few million Earths.