Astronomers are still waiting to detect a black hole merging with a neutron star for the first time, but it's got to happen eventually. In order to understand what kind of gravitational wave signal we might detect, astronomers have developed a comprehensive simulation that reveals the final moments of an unlucky neutron star's existence. The black hole shears off the surface of the degenerate star, causing quakes and rifts on its surface. Then it tears it apart.

Star Quakes and Monster Shock Waves

Caltech researchers simulate a black hole consuming a neutron star.

California Institute of Technology (www.caltech.edu)