THE INDEPENDENT: Astronomers capture a supermassive blackhole devouring a star for the first time

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By Robert Beswick, University of Manchester

Astronomers searching for supernova explosions accidentally stumbled upon a supermassive blackhole recently as it devoured a wandering star that had fallen into its grasp. It is now hoped that this amazing discovery – captured for the first time – will help scientists understand the environment in which galaxies developed billions of years ago.

Some of the most luminous and energetic phenomena in the Universe are powered by the gradual build up of matter onto supermassive black holes in the centres of galaxies. When consuming matter, these black holes can shine brightly across the whole electromagnetic spectrum and in some cases produce jets of material which stream outward at close to the speed of light.