The video shows a binary system, which is a two-star system. One star is a black hole, and the other is a normal star. The black hole is about three times the mass of the sun, and the star is about half the mass of the sun.
The video begins with the two stars orbiting each other. The black hole is very close to the star, and as they orbit, the star draws some very close. The close proximity of the black hole causes gas to slowly drain from the star, into a disc around the black hole.
The gas in the disc then gets super heated and falls toward the black hole, and gets devoured. This material heats up and radiates X-rays, which we see as a very fast, bright flare of light.
When the black hole is finished snacking on the star, both the star and black hole return back to their original orbits, until the next bout of snacking.
Scientists used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLTI) to capture this rare event. The VLTI is a large array of telescopes in Chile that is used to observe distant objects, including black holes and other galaxies.
The video demonstrates the incredibly strong forces that exist in black holes, illustrating just how powerful these cosmic phenomena are.
