🔁Mario Nawfal:
BLACK HOLES CAUGHT HAVING A STAR-SIZED SNACK
Black holes are usually quiet. Then a star drifts too close and things get dramatic.
Scientists just spotted three supermassive black holes tearing apart massive stars.
Each star was 3 to 10 times heavier than our Sun.
The explosions were brighter than 100 supernovae and lasted months.
These events are now called extreme nuclear transients, which is science’s way of saying “this was intense.”
One of the events, nicknamed Barbie, was discovered in 2020.
The other 2 were found in earlier years by European space telescopes.
All 3 lit up in ultraviolet and X-rays, slowly brightened for over 100 days, and took another 150 to start fading.
NASA’s Swift Observatory confirmed the black holes were the cause. Other telescopes helped track the dust and radiation left behind.
These rare events expose black holes that usually stay hidden.
Only about 10% of them are active, so catching one mid-meal is rare and valuable.
The Roman Space Telescope, launching around 2026, will look for more of these in deep space.
Thanks to a few unlucky stars, we now know what to watch for when black holes lose their patience.
Source: NASA
https://x.com/MarioNawfal/... https://x.com/MarioNawfal/...
BLACK HOLES CAUGHT HAVING A STAR-SIZED SNACK
Black holes are usually quiet. Then a star drifts too close and things get dramatic.
Scientists just spotted three supermassive black holes tearing apart massive stars.
Each star was 3 to 10 times heavier than our Sun.
The explosions were brighter than 100 supernovae and lasted months.
These events are now called extreme nuclear transients, which is science’s way of saying “this was intense.”
One of the events, nicknamed Barbie, was discovered in 2020.
The other 2 were found in earlier years by European space telescopes.
All 3 lit up in ultraviolet and X-rays, slowly brightened for over 100 days, and took another 150 to start fading.
NASA’s Swift Observatory confirmed the black holes were the cause. Other telescopes helped track the dust and radiation left behind.
These rare events expose black holes that usually stay hidden.
Only about 10% of them are active, so catching one mid-meal is rare and valuable.
The Roman Space Telescope, launching around 2026, will look for more of these in deep space.
Thanks to a few unlucky stars, we now know what to watch for when black holes lose their patience.
Source: NASA
https://x.com/MarioNawfal/... https://x.com/MarioNawfal/...
1 day ago
