A 200-Second Quasi-Periodicity After the Tidal Disruption of a Star by a Dormant Black Hole

Abstract

Oscillating Black Hole: The massive black holes that reside in the centers of galaxies can occasionally capture and tidally disrupt stars that wander too close. One such tidal disruption event was detected last year by the Swift satellite. Follow-up x-ray observations analyzed by Reis et al. (p. 949 , published online 2 August; see the Perspective by McKinney ) show quasi-periodic oscillations that suggest that an accretion disk formed around the black hole shortly after the tidal disruption event. This type of oscillation is commonly seen in the x-ray light from the much lighter black holes that result from the gravitational collapse of stars, but has been seen only once in a massive black hole residing in the center of a galaxy.