Scientists have witnessed the rare spectacle of a supermassive black hole devouring a star that had ventured too close — an event that occurs about once in 10,000 years, they reported on Thursday.
Matter-sucking black holes normally lurk dormant and undetected at the centre of galaxies, but can occasionally be tracked by the scraps left over from their stellar fests.
“Black holes, like sharks, suffer from a popular misconception that they are perpetual killing machines,” said researcher Ryan Chornock from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Massachusetts. “Actually, they’re quiet for most of their lives. Occasionally a star wanders too close, and that’s when a feeding frenzy begins.”
If a star passes too close, the black hole’s gravitational pull can rip it apart before sucking in its gases, which are heated by the friction and start to glow — giving away the silent killer’s hiding place.