TDE Graphic (IMAGE)

University of California - Santa Cruz

TDE Graphic

Caption

This illustration of emissions from a tidal disruption event shows in cross section what happens when the material from a disrupted star is devoured by a black hole. The material forms an accretion disk, which heats up and emits vast amounts of light and radiation. As shown by the double arrow, the emissions we are able to see from Earth depend on our viewing angle with respect to the orientation of the black hole.

Credit

Jane Lixin Dai

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