Supercomputer Simulations Test Star-destroying Black Holes (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Supercomputer Simulations Test Star-destroying Black Holes

Caption

Watch eight model stars stretch and deform as they approach a virtual black hole 1 million times the mass of the Sun. The black hole’s gravity rips some stars apart into a stream of gas, a phenomenon called a tidal disruption event. Others manage to withstand their close encounters. These simulations show that destruction and survival depend on the stars’ initial densities. Yellow represents the greatest densities, blue the least dense. BROADCAST QUALITY VIDEO: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14000

Credit

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Taeho Ryu (MPA)

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No restrictions.

License

Public Domain

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