The Roman Space Telescope Will Find Ancient Black Holes By Watching How They Eat Stars

This artist's illustration shows a supermassive black hole (SMBH) tearing apart a star that got too close in a tidal disruption event. These events flare brightly, making otherwise invisible black holes visible. Astrophysicists want to find more of these events across cosmic time so they can understand how SMBH have become so massive. The upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will find many more of them. Image Credit: NASA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

When supermassive black holes (SMBH) in a certain mass range eat a star, they first tear it apart in a Tidal Disruption Event (TDE). By detecting TDE across cosmic time, astronomers can chart the growth of SMBH as the Universe aged. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help, by finding about 100 TDEs every year.

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