Tidal disruption event

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Simulation of a star being disrupted by a supermassive black hole during a tidal disruption event. TDE Simulation Image.jpg
Simulation of a star being disrupted by a supermassive black hole during a tidal disruption event.

A tidal disruption event (TDE) is a transient astronomical source produced when a star passes so close to a supermassive black hole (SMBH) that it is pulled apart by the black hole's tidal force. [2] [3] The star undergoes spaghettification, producing a tidal stream of material that loops around the black hole. Some portion of the stellar material is captured into orbit, forming an accretion disk around the black hole, which emits electromagnetic radiation. In a small fraction of TDEs, a relativistic jet is also produced. As the material in the disk is gradually consumed by the black hole, the TDE fades over several months or years.

Contents

TDEs were predicted in the 1970s and first observed in the 1990s. Over a hundred have since been observed, with detections at optical, infrared, radio and X-ray wavelengths. Sometimes a star can survive the encounter with an SMBH, leaving a remnant; those events are termed partial TDEs. [4] [5]

History

TDEs were first theorized by Jack G. Hills in 1975. [6] A consequence of a star getting sufficiently close to a SMBH that the tidal forces between the star will overcome the star's self-gravity. In 1988 Martin Rees described how approximately half of the disrupted stellar material will remain bound, eventually accreting onto the black hole and forming a luminous accretion disk. [7]

According to early[ when? ] studies, tidal disruption events are an inevitable consequence of massive black holes' activity hidden in galaxy nuclei. Later theorists concluded that the resulting explosion or flare of radiation from the accretion of the stellar debris could reveal the presence of a dormant black hole in the center of a normal galaxy. [8]

TDEs were first observed in the early 1990s using the X-ray ROSAT All-Sky Survey.[ citation needed ]

Observations

As of May 2024, roughly 100 TDEs are known, [9] [10] [11] and have been discovered through several astronomical methods. such as optical transient surveys including Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) [11] and the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASASS-SN). [12] Other TDEs have been discovered in X-rays, using the ROSAT, XMM-Newton, and eROSITA. [13] TDEs have also been discovered in the ultraviolet. [14]

Optical light curves

The light curves of TDEs have an initially sharp rise in brightness, as the disrupted stellar material falls towards the black hole, followed by a more gradual decline lasting months or years. During the declining phase, the luminosity is proportional to , where t is time, [15] although some TDEs have been observed to deviate from the typical rate has been observed. [16] These properties allow TDEs to be distinguished from other transient astronomical sources, such as supernovae. The peak luminosity of TDEs is proportional to the central black hole mass; it can approach or exceed that of their host galaxies, making them some of the brightest sources observed in the Universe. [17]

Physical properties and energetics

There are two broad classes of TDEs. The majority of TDEs consist of "non-relativistic" events, where the outflows from the TDE are akin to the energetics seen in Type Ib and Ic supernovae. [18]

Approximately 1% of TDEs, however, are relativistic TDEs, where an astrophysical jet is launched from the black hole shortly after the star is destroyed. This jet persists for several years before shutting off. [19] As of 2023 only four TDEs with jets have been observed. [20]

Tidal-disruption radius

A star gets tidally disrupted when the tidal force exerted by a black hole exceeds the self-gravity of the star . The distance below which is called the tidal radius and is given approximately by: [21] [22]

This is identical to the Roche limit for disruptions of planetary bodies.

Usually, the tidal-disruption radius of a black hole is bigger than its Schwarzschild radius, , but considering the radius and mass of the star fixed there is a mass for the black hole where both radii become equal meaning that at this point the star would simply disappear before being torn apart. [23] [7]

Notable tidal disruption events

Hubble Space Telescope optical image of the TDE Swift J1644+57 GRB 110328A (captured by the Hubble Space Telescope).jpg
Hubble Space Telescope optical image of the TDE Swift J1644+57

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gamma-ray burst</span> Flashes of gamma rays from distant galaxies

In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies, described by NASA as "the most powerful class of explosions in the universe". They are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. Bursts can last from ten milliseconds to several hours. After an initial flash of gamma rays, a longer-lived "afterglow" is usually emitted at longer wavelengths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 87</span> Elliptical galaxy in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supermassive black hole</span> Largest type of black hole

A supermassive black hole is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions, of times the mass of the Sun (M☉). Black holes are a class of astronomical objects that have undergone gravitational collapse, leaving behind spheroidal regions of space from which nothing can escape, including light. Observational evidence indicates that almost every large galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. For example, the Milky Way galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center, corresponding to the radio source Sagittarius A*. Accretion of interstellar gas onto supermassive black holes is the process responsible for powering active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and quasars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stellar black hole</span> Black hole formed by a collapsed star

A stellar black hole is a black hole formed by the gravitational collapse of a star. They have masses ranging from about 5 to several tens of solar masses. They are the remnants of supernova explosions, which may be observed as a type of gamma ray burst. These black holes are also referred to as collapsars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sagittarius A*</span> Supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way

Sagittarius A*, abbreviated Sgr A*, is the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. Viewed from Earth, it is located near the border of the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, about 5.6° south of the ecliptic, visually close to the Butterfly Cluster (M6) and Lambda Scorpii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swift J1644+57</span> Tidal disruption event in the constellation Draco

Swift J164449.3+573451, initially referred to as GRB 110328A, and sometimes abbreviated to Sw J1644+57, was a tidal disruption event (TDE), the destruction of a star by a supermassive black hole. It was first detected by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission on March 28, 2011. The event occurred in the center of a small galaxy in the Draco constellation, about 3.8 billion light-years away. It was the first confirmed jetted tidal disruption event and is the most luminous and energetic TDE recorded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ASASSN-15lh</span> 2015 hypernova event in the constellation Indus

ASASSN-15lh is an extremely luminous astronomical transient event discovered by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN), with the appearance of a superluminous supernova event. It was first detected on June 14, 2015, located within a faint galaxy in the southern constellation Indus, and was the most luminous supernova-like object ever observed. At its peak, ASASSN-15lh was 570 billion times brighter than the Sun, and 20 times brighter than the combined light emitted by the Milky Way Galaxy. The emitted energy was exceeded by PS1-10adi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4660</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4660 is an elliptical galaxy located about 63 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 708</span> Galaxy in the constellation Andromeda

NGC 708 is an elliptical galaxy located 240 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda and was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on September 21, 1786. It is classified as a cD galaxy and is the brightest member of Abell 262. NGC 708 is a weak FR I radio galaxy and is also classified as a type 2 Seyfert galaxy.

ASASSN-19bt was a tidal disruption event (TDE) discovered by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) project, with early-time, detailed observations by the TESS satellite. It was first detected on January 21, 2019, and reached peak brightness on March 4. The black hole which caused the TDE is in the 16th magnitude galaxy 2MASX J07001137-6602251 in the constellation Volans at a redshift of 0.0262, around 375 million light years away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramesh Narayan (astrophysicist)</span> Indian-American theoretical astrophysicist

Ramesh Narayan is an Indian-American theoretical astrophysicist, currently the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences in the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University. Full member of the National Academy of Sciences, Ramesh Narayan is widely known for his contributions on the theory of black hole accretion processes. Recently he is involved in the Event Horizon Telescope project, which led in 2019 to the first image of the event horizon of a black hole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OGLE-2011-BLG-0462</span>

OGLE-2011-BLG-0462, also known as MOA-2011-BLG-191, is a stellar-mass black hole isolated in interstellar space. OGLE-2011-BLG-0462 lies at a distance of 1,720 parsecs in the direction of the galactic bulge in the constellation Sagittarius. The black hole has a mass of about 6.03 M☉. OGLE-2011-BLG-0462 is the first truly isolated black hole which has been confirmed.

AT2018hyz is a tidal disruption event (TDE) that was discovered in 2018 by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASASS-SN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IRAS 05189-2524</span>

IRAS 05189-2524 is a galaxy merger located in the constellation Lepus. It is located 603 million light-years away from the Solar System and has an approximate diameter of 75,000 light-years.

References

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  2. ↑ "Astronomers See a Massive Black Hole Tear a Star Apart". Universe today. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tidal Disruption of a Star By a Massive Black Hole". Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Guillochon, James; Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico (2013-04-10). "Hydrodynamical Simulations to Determine the Feeding Rate of Black Holes by the Tidal Disruption of Stars: The Importance of the Impact Parameter and Stellar Structure". The Astrophysical Journal. 767 (1): 25. arXiv: 1206.2350 . Bibcode:2013ApJ...767...25G. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/767/1/25. ISSN   0004-637X. S2CID   118900779.
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  32. ↑ Lin, Dacheng (25 July 2020). "ATel #13895: ASASSN-20hx is a Hard Tidal Disruption Event Candidate". The Astronomer's Telegram . Retrieved 25 July 2020.
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