Researchers have discovered that black holes engage in a cosmic dance and a star-lit meal to vibe with each other in a cosmic love story fit for Valentine's Day.

They follow the spaghettification of the star through to when the debris falls back on the black hole, then a close approach that turns the stream into something like a wriggling garden hose.

And anything that ventures too close—be it star, planet, or spacecraft—will be stretched and compressed like putty in a theoretical process aptly known as spaghettification. In their final ...