Tidal Disruption Event ASASSN-14li (IMAGE)
Caption
This illustration of a recently observed tidal disruption, named ASASSN-14li, shows a disk of stellar debris around the black hole at the upper left. A long tail of ejected stellar debris extends to the right, far from the black hole. The X-ray spectrum obtained with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (seen in the inset box) and ESA's XMM-Newton satellite both show clear evidence for dips in X-ray intensity over a narrow range of wavelengths. These dips are shifted toward bluer wavelengths than expected, providing evidence for a wind blowing away from the black hole.
Credit
NASA/CXC/M. Weiss
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