Massive star ripped apart by a black hole

https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/tde/

We have recently done forensics on the tidal disruption event ASASSN-14li, and found that the elemental composition of the disrupted star is most easily explained if the star was approximately 3 solar masses. It is particularly difficult to determine the mass of stars in these violent events, and this may show a viable new path toward such measurements.

lsa logoum logoU-M Privacy StatementAccessibility at U-M