Knowra Tidal disruption event Tidal disruption event A transient flare produced when a star passes close enough to a massive black hole for tidal forces to tear it apart. Debris can form an accretion flow whose radiation reveals the event.
Roche limit : The distance within which a body's tidal forces can overcome another body's self-gravity and disrupt it. A star is disrupted when its closest approach brings it inside the black hole's effective tidal limit.
Optical astronomy : The study of celestial objects using visible-light observations. Optical surveys identify many tidal disruption flares as short-lived changes in galactic nuclei.
ASASSN-14li : A nearby tidal disruption event discovered in 2014, observed across optical, ultraviolet, X-ray, and radio wavelengths. Its unusually broad multiwavelength coverage made it a benchmark for studying debris and outflows.
Supernova : A stellar explosion that produces a luminous transient and ejects stellar material. Supernovae also brighten galaxies, but their energy comes from stellar explosion rather than black-hole tides.
Stellar disruption : The tearing apart of a star by an external gravitational field stronger across the star than its self-gravity can resist. This is the central physical event that initiates a tidal disruption flare.
X-ray astronomy : The study of astronomical sources through their X-ray emission. X-rays can trace hot gas near the black hole during a disruption flare.
Swift J1644+57 : A luminous high-energy transient from a galactic nucleus, interpreted as a relativistic jet from a tidal disruption event. Its powerful, variable X-ray emission demonstrated that a disruption can launch a relativistic jet.
Active galactic nucleus : A compact, luminous region at a galaxy's center powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole. Both emit from galactic centers, but an active nucleus is persistently powered rather than triggered by one disrupted star.
Stellar debris stream : A long, narrow flow of stellar material produced when a star is stretched apart by strong tidal forces. The disrupted star's returning debris forms streams that can collide and dissipate orbital energy.
Radio astronomy : The study of celestial objects through radio-frequency radiation. Radio observations reveal synchrotron emission from outflows and jets after disruption.
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