"What happens when you throw a star at a black hole?" It's not a question we can physically answer here on Earth. Thankfully, actual black holes and stars can't be smashed together in the lab! However, scientists can use advanced supercomputer modeling to simulate a black hole ripping apart and devouring a star in a so-called "tidal disruption event" or "TDE." Doing just that, a team of researchers led by Danel Price from Monash University has discovered that the answer to our opening question is "things get messy." "Black holes are not able to eat all that much," Price told Space.com. "So much like myself, after a bad curry, a lot doesn't go down the black hole, and most of it comes back in the form of violent outflows. We observe this in tidal disruption events — strong outflows, relatively low and constant temperature material, and large emitting distances."