Black Hole Devours Bypassing Star Illustration

This sequence of artist's illustrations shows how a black hole can devour a bypassing star.

1. A normal star passes near a supermassive black hole in the center of a galaxy.

2. The star's outer gasses are pulled into the black hole's gravitational field.

3. The star is shredded as tidal forces pull it apart.

4. The stellar remnants are pulled into a donut-shaped ring around the black hole, and will eventually fall into the black hole, unleashing a tremendous amount of light and high-energy radiation.