Multiple tidal disruption flares in the active galaxy IC 3599

Understand

Tidal disruption events occur when a star passes too close to a massive black hole and it is totally ripped apart by tidal forces.

• It may also happen that the star is not close enough to the black hole to be totally disrupted and a less dramatic event might happen.
• If the stellar orbit is bound and highly eccentric, just like some stars in the centre of our own Galaxy, repeated flares should occur.
• When the star approaches the black hole tidal radius at periastron, matter might be stripped resulting in lower intensity outbursts recurring once every orbital period.