OBJECTS ARE STRETCHED LIKE SPAGHETTI AS THEY APPROACH A BLACK HOLE

As an object gets closer to a black hole, the gravitational pull rises sharply. The parts of the object that are closest to the black hole experience stronger attraction than those farther away, causing them to accelerate faster. This stretches the object as the front moves more quickly than the back, drawing it out into a long filament in a process known as spaghettification. The tidal forces around a black hole are strong enough that anything entering becomes stretched, from the largest stars to the smallest atoms. When the stretching force exceeds the elastic limit of the material, it starts to break apart, tearing into smaller and smaller pieces, each being stretched out until all that’s left are elementary particles. Spaghettification takes place at different times depending on the size and type of black hole. For small stellar black holes, for example, it occurs before objects have crossed the event horizon. However, in supermassive black holes the tidal forces don’t always become great enough until the object has crossed over the point of no return.

1 Neutron star

After black holes, neutron stars are the densest objects in the universe – a teaspoon can weigh billions of tonnes.

Spaghettification

The star’s front edge is closer to the centre of the black hole and the gravitational pull is stronger, stretching it out into a wide arc.

X-ray emissions

The remnants of the star continue to drop over the event horizon, releasing spikes of X-ray emissions.

2 Stellar black hole

Many are in binary systems, orbiting another star and hurtling towards an eventual collision.

Entering the disc

As the dismantled star grows nearer to the event horizon, it starts to merge with the accretion disc.

Gamma-ray burst

As a star crashes into the black hole, most is swallowed in an instant, releasing gamma rays.

3 Shredding

As the star is stretched, it starts to come apart, creating a vast smear across the cosmos.

Immense friction

Particles in the disc rub against one another, releasing energy and leaving a blazing trail as the broken star circles.

Polar jets

In a feeding frenzy, the black hole spits the excess back out, funnelling it away from the poles in bright jets.