--- title: "Murderous Black Hole Goes on Rampage, Leaves Path of Wrecked Stars in Its Wake" description: "New NASA data shows a supermassive black hole on a merciless killing spree, destroying one star and using its body as a new weapon." date: "2024-10-10" modified: "2024-10-10" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-hole-leaves-wrecked-stars" categories: - "Astrophysics" - "Black Holes" - "Space" tags: - "NASA" - "star death" - "supermassive black holes" - "the digest" --- # Murderous Black Hole Goes on Rampage, Leaves Path of Wrecked Stars in Its Wake ![New NASA data shows a supermassive black hole on a merciless killing spree, destroying one star and using its body as a new weapon.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Get Wrecked New NASA data shows a supermassive black hole going on a chaotic killing spree, destroying one star before pelting another with its dead body. Metal! The findings, which were [published this week in the journal *Nature*,]() shed light on a phenomenon known as a tidal disruption event (TDE). In short, these events are gory celestial instances in which a star gets too close to a black hole and is shredded to pieces by its gravity. The scientists' research links TDEs to another observed cosmic mystery: quasi-periodic eruptions (QPE), a more recently discovered class of bright X-ray pulses that flash from the centers of galaxies around black holes. "There had been feverish speculation that these phenomena were connected, and now we've discovered the proof that they are," said study coauthor Dheeraj Pasham, an Einstein fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a [statement](). "It's like getting a cosmic two-for-one in terms of solving mysteries." Though the cosmic crime itself is nothing short of violent, an [illustration]() created by NASA based on the data collected from various telescopes is a mesmerizing sight to behold. https://twitter.com/chandraxray/status/1844030884007301280 ## Diving Class Using data taken from [NASA instruments]() including the [Chandra X-Ray Observatory]() and the still-kicking Hubble Space Telescope, researchers were able to determine that a TDE called AT2019qiz, discovered back in 2019, left behind a disk of material. According to the study, that disk continued to expand over the next few years, until it eventually caught up with another object in the supermassive black hole's orbit. (This object is likely another star, though it's possibly a smaller black hole.) Now, every 48 hours or so when the disk material intersects with this second object, a flash of X-ray gas appears — leading scientists to believe that QPEs arise as an eventual result of TDEs, an intriguing link in our still-murky understanding of this violent cosmic chain of events. It also means that this second cosmic body is probably being mercilessly pummelled to death with the original star's body as we speak. Lead study author and Queen's University, Belfast physicist Matt Nicholl likened the brutal incident to a "diver repeatedly going into a pool and creating a splash every time she enters the water." "The star in this comparison is like the diver and the disk is the pool, and each time the star strikes the surface it creates a huge 'splash' of gas and X-rays," Nicholl [explained in a statement](). "As the star orbits around the black hole, it does this over and over again." Violent as the incident is, the new research is a powerful reminder of the awesome power held by supermassive black holes. **More on black holes:** [*Scientists Say Furious Black Hole Making Nearby Stars Explode*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()