Giant black holes in galaxies, including the Milky Way, occasionally consume nearby stars, leading to a dramatic process called a tidal disruption event. This involves the star being torn apart and forming a hot, luminous accretion disc. A new study in the Astrophysical Journal Letters offers the most detailed simulations of this process over a year. Initially theorized by astronomers Jack G. Hills and Martin Rees, it was expected that the debris would emit X-rays. However, most observed events glow mainly at visible wavelengths with temperatures around 10,000 degrees Celsius.