BP: PARIS – Scientists reported Wednesday that they witnessed in unprecedented detail a star being ripped to shreds and devoured by a dormant supermassive black hole.
The celestial feeding frenzy — known as a tidal disruption event — was detected from the high-energy, X-ray echoes emitted as debris from the hapless star swirled in a vortex near the black hole’s centre.
The findings were published in the prestigious science journal Nature.
“Never before have we been able to see strong gravity effects from a dormant black hole,” Erin Kara, a Hubble postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland, and lead author of the study, told AFP. more
Carbon Dioxide’s fault in 3..2..1.
I’m glad Michael Jackson got home…
There’s a black hole in the White House that’s ripping this nation to shreds and another one trying to replace him..
That is COOL!
the article didnt say how long it took for this to happen. 24 hours?? days? years?
Should have named that star Mrs. Bill. . .
“Dormant” Black Hole?
What the fuck? It wasn’t out ACTIVELY looking for stars to eat?
izlamo delenda est …
Black Holes Matter. That’s why after midnight you can get them for $2
Um…a black hole’s gravity is a function of its mass. A physical property. So how exactly can a black hole be “dormant”?
@harbqll ~ it’s like when Mooch is asleep & not grazing on taxpayer dollars
ΜΟΛΩΝ – Yeah, but asleep or not it always has enough gravity to suck all the happiness outta the room!
then came unity…
Dormant black hole devours Hyperbole from the press for us rubes. In reality a star finally was pulled close enough for gravity to rip it apart and pull it in. Prior to that the black hole hadn’t been pulling anything of consequence in. Derp!
LOOK OUT HOLLYWOOD STARS!!!!
So before that other star came along, the black hole was in remission?