A close encounter with another star put the doomed star (orange circle) on a path that took it near a supermassive black hole. The enormous gravity of the giant black hole stretched the star until it was torn apart. Because of the momentum and energy of the accretion process, only a few percent of the disrupted star's mass (indicated by the white stream) was swallowed by the black hole, while the rest of was flung away into the surrounding galaxy. |
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Oh, having met you, I can empathize with that poor, destroyed star because that is almost exactly what happened with us. |
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We had a close encounter, you ate of my sweet fruits, then tossed me aside like so much cosmic detritus. The only difference is that you are an ASShole. |
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