A very long time ago, in a dwarf galaxy far, far away, a drama of cosmic dimensions unfolded. A star gets too close to a looming black hole and is sucked in by its extreme gravity.
The star does not escape. In a spiraling motion, it is drawn closer and closer until it is finally torn apart.
The black hole swallows a large part of the star and hurls the rest away in a giant arc of glowing material that in a flash outshines all other light from the dwarf galaxy’s stars.
850 million years later, in June 2020, a team of astronomers accidentally pointed their telescopes at the dwarf galaxy. They are looking for supernovae, i.e. exploding stars, but suddenly they see the glimpse of the star’s death struggle.
Now, after two years of thorough analysis, the researchers are sure of what lies behind.
A star has been swallowed by a black hole, but more importantly: The black hole is of a type that scientists have very rarely seen traces of.
2023-08-13 14:30:54
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