Across the universe, the immense gravitational pull of black holes sucks up whirlpools of gas called accretion disks. Due to something called the "Lense-Thirring effect," surrounding matter falling into black holes doesn't just fall straight down as an object dropped on Earth would. Instead, upon entering the black hole, objects start rotating in a process called "frame-dragging," which swirls surrounding plasma into spiraling accretion disks. A study published this week furthers what we know about what happens once that disk enters the black hole — and it's quite a violent process.
Using computer simulations, researchers saw that the rotations caused by the black hole actually warp the entire accretion disk such that its gas begins to cave in on itself and drive mass inwards faster. As it gets pulled in closer and closer to the belly of the black hole, the gravity gets so strong that the black hole eventually tears the accretion disk in two before devouring first the inner disc and then the outer one. Think of it like you'd tear a sandwich in half to be able to handle it more easily on its way to your mouth.
