Black holes eat stars in variable mood lighting
Thursday, February 6, 2020 - 09:40
in Astronomy & Space
When a black hole chews up a star, it produces visible light or X-rays, but astronomers have almost never detected both types of radiation. Astronomer Peter Jonker (SRON / Radboud University) and his colleagues have now spotted a number of captured stars with an X-ray telescope a few years after they were discovered in optical light. It appears that black holes all dine in the same way after all, while the mood lighting varies according to a fixed pattern. Their study is published in the Astrophysical Journal.