A tidal disruption event occurs when a star winds up so close to a supermassive black hole that the tidal forces exceed the star’s self-gravity and shred the star; as the black hole feasts, it gives off an enormous burst of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum. Masterson et al. identified 18 new tidal disruption events — extreme instances when a nearby star is tidally drawn into a black hole and ripped to shreds. Image credit: Masterson...
