Big Black Holes Cook Flambeed Stellar Pancakes
Friday, May 2, 2008 - 11:35
in Astronomy & Space
Astrophysicists now say the fate of stars that venture too close to massive black holes could be even more violent than previously believed. Not only are they crushed by the black hole's huge gravity, but the process can also trigger a nuclear explosion that tears the star apart from within. In addition, shock waves in the pancake star carry a brief and very high peak of temperature outwards, that could give rise to a new type of X-ray or gamma-ray bursts.
Read the whole article on Science Daily
More from Science Daily
Related
- Black hole hunters set new distance recordWed, 27 Jan 2010, 9:39:01 EST
- Neutron stars may be too weak to power some gamma-ray burstsWed, 3 Nov 2010, 14:01:23 EDT
- Gamma-ray flash came from star being eaten by massive black holeThu, 16 Jun 2011, 14:36:26 EDT
- Astrophysicists find evidence of black holes' destruction of starsTue, 11 Oct 2011, 13:34:40 EDT
- How black holes growMon, 2 Apr 2012, 11:35:30 EDT