Astronomers report seeing supermassive black hole swallowing star

[Judi Lynn]

Astronomers report seeing supermassive black hole swallowing star
The unprecedented sight was revealed in bursts of radiation from a constellation 4.5 billion light-years away, scientists say in the journal Nature.
By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times
10:07 p.m. CDT, August 24, 2011



For the first time, astronomers say they've borne witness to a supermassive black hole consuming a star.

Two papers released Wednesday by the journal Nature describe powerful blasts of radiation whose brightness and behavior can be explained only by a sun-sized star being torn apart by the gravitational forces of a black hole at the center of its galaxy, the authors say.

Scientists believe they have seen the aftermath of such stellar violence before, in the form of fading glows emanating from distant galaxies, in whose centers supermassive black holes usually reside. But they had never caught one in the act.

"This was the first time we saw one of these big black holes going from quiet and silent to very loud and noisy, producing a lot of light and radiation," said Davide Lazzati, an astrophysicist at North Carolina State University who was not involved in the study.

More:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/la-sci-black-hole-20110825,0,7250111.story

[midnight]

1. K&R

[Supply Side Jesus]

2. sweet....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwB8L092ZzU

[pnwest]

3. pretty effing cool...

...wonder if any alien civilizations had to relocate to another planet...sci-fi story being written in my head!

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. "4.5 billion light-years away..."

:wtf:

That's a number that is incomprehensible to me. I mean, I can do cat and dog years, but 4.5 billion light years is a bit out of my realm :)

Cool pics and story!

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Wow!

[Firebrand Gary]

6. That's wild, I read about that the other day.