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Astronomers, using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, 
have recorded a star’s final moments in detail  

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as it was ripped apart and eaten up by a 
black hole in a tidal disruption event.

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The shredded star is nearly 
300 million light-years away,  

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but astronomers used Hubble’s powerful 
ultraviolet sensitivity to analyze its  

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light to gather forensic 
clues of the violent event.

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Hubble data found a very bright, 
hot, donut-shaped area of gas,  

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the size of the solar system, swirling around 
a black hole. The swirling gas was once a star.

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Usually, astronomers get just a few observations 
at the beginning of a disruption event,  

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when it's very bright. But this energetic 
collision's proximity and brightness  

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allowed Hubble to gather ultraviolet data 
over a longer than normal time period.

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This is a rare opportunity for scientists to 
create models of what they think is going on  

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and then compare those models with 
what Hubble sees. It is an exciting  

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place for scientists to be: right at the 
intersection of the known and the unknown.

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