Science: Astronomers have discovered a black hole engaged in a colossal stellar meal about 9 billion light-years away from us. The supermassive black hole, which has a mass about 10 million times that of the sun, was observed ripping apart a star about nine times larger than our own and eating its stellar remains. This is the most massive star ever seen destroyed in one of these terrifying “tidal disruption events,” or “TDEs.” For reference, the star in this TDE (designated AT2023vto) is five times more massive than the next-largest stellar body destroyed by a black hole. As a result, AT2023vto is the largest and brightest TDE astronomers have ever discovered. “What really sets TDE AT2023vto apart from other TDEs is that it’s incredibly, incredibly bright,” team member Yvette Sendes of the University of Oregon told Space.com. “It’s 9 billion light-years away – and some change. It’s very far away, but it’s bright enough that you can see it even from that distance. Normally, we see TDEs much closer to home.” This is not the most distant TDE ever seen, that’s clear. What sets such distant (and therefore first) TDEs apart is that they blast jets of material at close to the speed of light. This makes them incredibly bright and makes them easy to spot at large distances. TDE AT2023vto is like the other 99% in that they are not so-called relativistic jets – at least, not yet.
‘Death of the biggest star due to black hole’ is the biggest and brightest event
