Black Hole TDE AT2024tvd

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of galaxy located 600 million light-years away that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole. Visible in the Hubble image is a tidal disruption event (TDE), an intense flash of radiation caused by the supermassive black hole eating a star. The TDE appears as an isolated blue point source of ultraviolet light, while the galaxy is colored orange in visible light. The source is one of the first examples of a TDE significantly offset from the host galaxy's core by 2,600 light-years – where an even more massive active black resides. Hubble's precise angular resolution clearly shows this offset and confirms independent observations made with NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory. The photo taken on January 16, 2025 with Hubble's WFC3 detector in UV and visible light wavelengths.

About the colours

These images were acquired by the WFC3 Instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to a monochromatic (grayscale) image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Cyan: F275W, Orange: F625W

About the data

The Hubble observations include those from program 17894 (Y. Yao)