Visualization from a MAYA collaboration numerical relativity simulation of a neutron star-black hole (NSBH) binary merger. This video shows a simulation of the tidal disruption of a neutron star as it merges with a black hole. As the neutron star approaches closer to the black hole, the tidal forces overpower the self-gravity of the star leading to its disruption. In this simulation, the black hole is twice as massive as the neutron star and neither is spinning.

Credit: Deborah Ferguson (UT Austin), Bhavesh Khamesra (Georgia Tech), and Karan Jani (Vanderbilt)