If a star passes too close to a black hole, it can be torn apart.

If a star passes too close to a black hole, it can be torn apart.

Tidal disruption events (TDEs), occur when a star moves too close in proximity to a supermassive black hole. ... The black hole's gravitational force overpowers the star's gravity — tearing it to shreds. Some of its material gets hurled out into space, the rest cascades back into the black hole.

Black holes can form from old stars that collapsed in on themselves. So when a star gets too close to a black hole, that extreme gravity actually stretches the star. The materials within the star stretch out and the materials get hotter and thus brighter while circling the black hole.

Fortunately, this has never happened to anyone — black holes are too far away to pull in any matter from our solar system. But scientists have observed black holes ripping stars apart, a process that releases a tremendous amount of energy.