What is spaghetti with a star?

It may sound like something edible, but the spaghetti isn’t exactly tasty. It can in fact be compared to tidal forces on Earth. What is closer to the source of gravity, it is pulled more than anything further. In the case of a black hole, these forces are enormous. If a star approaches it, the closer side will be pulled towards the hole faster than the other side. If the gravity of the star itself is no longer strong enough to hold things together, strings form and you get spaghetti.

The time it then takes before the star disappears forever with one last great flash of light depends on several things: the size of the star, but also the size of the black hole. It is also possible that the strings will turn only a little for a long time. Because it’s only when the head and tail meet that the story ends. Sometimes it takes up to a year for this to happen. Such a disintegrated star flash has already been seen a number of times, but recently the part in front of it – the spaghettification – was also detected for the first time.

True, if this trail has lasted for a while, you can see traces of it when the flash is measured. These traces disturb the light signal that can be detected on Earth and because it is a very specific disturbance, researchers now think they are sure they have found the proof. They can even now calculate the width of the ropes.

Also to listen: First clue of a star’s spaghettification. Photo credit on Twitter: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss.