Animation: Black Hole Destroys Star
Video Illustration Credit: DESY, Science Communication Lab
Explanation: What happens if a star gets too close to a black hole? The black hole can rip it apart — but how? It’s not the high gravitational attraction itself that’s the problem — it’s the difference in gravitational pull across the star that creates the destruction. In the featured animated video illustrating this disintegration, you first see a star approaching the black hole. Increasing in orbital speed, the star’s outer atmosphere is ripped away during closest approach. Much of the star’s atmosphere disperses into deep space, but some continues to orbit the black hole and forms an accretion disk. The animation then takes you into the accretion disk while looking toward the black hole. Including the strange visual effects of gravitational lensing, you can even see the far side of the disk. Finally, you look along one of the jets being expelled along the spin axis. Theoretical models indicate that these jets not only expel energetic gas, but create energetic neutrinos — one of which may have been seen recently on Earth.
Tomorrow’s picture: polaris deep field
动画：黑洞如何摧毁恒星
示意影片提供: DESY, Science Communication Lab
说明: 恒星太靠近黑洞会怎样？黑洞会把恒星撕碎。然而，过程何似？关键并非重力有多强，而是恒星各区域受到的引力差（引潮力），才是恒星毁灭的主因。这部主题动画里，揭示了恒星碎裂的过程。在动画开头之时，可见到一颗往黑洞靠近的恒星。在它的轨道速率增加的同时，它的外层大气在最近距时被剥去。大部分的恒星大气最后会消散在太空中，只有部分会持续旋绕黑洞形成吸积盘。接着，动画带我们进入吸积盘，眺望中央的黑洞。除了重力透镜造成的奇特视觉效应之外，还可见到吸积盘的反侧。最后，我们的视线沿着二道顺自转轴外泛的喷流之一远眺。理论模型指出，这些喷流里不但应有高能气体，也有高能微中子，而在不久前，地面观测刚找到一个例证。
明日的图片: polaris deep field
