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Astronomy

The Tidal Disruption of Stars by Supermassive Black Holes

Quick fact

A star that gets too close to a supermassive black hole is not swallowed whole—it is stretched into a long stream of gas, a process called 'spaghettification,' before it is consumed.

Why this is interesting

Every galaxy hides a monster at its center, and when a wayward star falls into its grip, the unthinkable happens: the star is torn apart, and we can watch it from billions of light-years away. But what exactly happens in that final cosmic embrace?