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Six panel illustration of Black Hole TDE AT2024tvd

Six-panel illustration marked "Artist's Concept." The upper left panel shows the silhouette of supermassive black hole that is adrift inside a galaxy. The middle upper panel shows a yellow star drifting near the black hole. The three following panels show the star being shredded in bright white concentric streamers followed by a white explosion. the bottom right panel is an external view of the galaxy showing a bright white star-like object that is the site if the explosion as viewed in X-rays and visible light.

This six-panel illustration of a tidal disruption event around a supermassive black hole shows the following: 1) A supermassive black hole is adrift inside a galaxy, its presence only detectable by gravitational lensing; 2) A wayward star gets swept up in the black hole's intense gravitational pull; 3) The star is stretched or "spaghettified" by gravitational tidal effects; 4) The star's remnants form a disk around the black hole; 5) There is a period of black hole accretion, pouring out radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from X-rays to radio wavelengths; and 6) The host galaxy, seen from afar, contains a bright flash of energy that is offset from the galaxy's nucleus, where an even more massive black hole dwells.

  • Release Date
    May 8, 2025
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Hubble Pinpoints Roaming Massive Black Hole
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Artwork: NASA, ESA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

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Related Images & Videos

A fuzzy orange-yellow oval occupies the middle fourth of the image. It extends from 10 ou2019clock to 4 ou2019clock. A bright white spot is located within the oval but offset to the upper left from the core. An additional smaller, grainy, orange disk is located at lower right. A couple of additional orange points are in the frame. The background of space is black.

Black Hole TDE AT2024tvd

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of a distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole.

This is a combined Hubble Space Telescope/ Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole. Both telescopes caught a tidal disruption event (TDE), an intense flash of radiation caused by the supermassive black hole eating a star. The TDE appears as an isolated blue-white point source of ultraviolet light, while the galaxy is colored orange in visible light. In addition, X-Ray light is captured by Chandra as a purple haze surround the TDE. Both Hubble and Chandra observations were combined to pinpoint the TDEu2019s location, which is offset from the center of the galaxy, which appears as a bright orange-white blob.

Black Hole TDE AT2024tvd (Hubble + Chandra)

This is a combined Hubble Space Telescope/Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of a distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole.

Image titled u201cAT2024tvd, HST WFC3 + Chandra X-ray Observatoryu201d at top left with compass arrows and color key at the bottom. Below the name, filters are listed: F275W in green, F625W in orange, and X-Ray in blue. These colors indicate the visible-light color is assigned to each filter. The TDE event takes up a majority of the view. The TDE appears as an isolated blue-white point source of ultraviolet light, while the galaxy is colored orange in visible light. In addition, X-Ray light is captured by Chandra as a purple haze surround the TDE.u00a0The length of the scale bar at bottom left is about a fifth of the total width. It is labeled 11,700 light-years and 4 arcseconds. At the bottom right are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The east arrow points toward 9 ou2019clock. The north arrow points toward 12 ou2019clock.

Black Hole TDE AT2024tvd Compass Image

This is a combined Hubble Space Telescope/Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of a distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole.

This is a video animation of a tidal disruption event (TDE), an intense flash of radiation caused by the supermassive black hole eating a star. The video begins by zooming into a distant elliptical galaxy that is white located 600 million light-years away. We fly into a blizzard of stars inside the galaxy. We see the silhouette of a supermassive black hole that is only slightly visible due to the way it distorts light from background stars, through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. A wayward star get swept up in the black holeu2019s intense gravitational pull. It is stretched like taffy and makes a white Spirograph pattern as it falls toward the black hole. There is and incredible burst of white radiation. See from afar, the TDE monetarily outshines the entire galaxy as a brilliant pinpoint of white light.

Black Hole Tidal Disruption Event

This is a video animation of a tidal disruption event (TDE), an intense flash of radiation caused by the supermassive black hole eating a star. The video begins by zooming into a galaxy located 600 million light-years away.

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Details

Last Updated
May 08, 2025
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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