Scientists have shown a black hole that devours a star

Astronomers have photographed an intermediate-mass black hole devouring a star in a dwarf galaxy a million light-years from Earth. Opening done as part of the three-year Young Supernova Experiment initiative to study data from the Pan-STARRS telescope system.

Scientists were lucky with the timing: the telescope caught a flash of tidal radiation - the moment when a star approaches the event horizon of a black hole and is torn apart by its tidal forces. A huge amount of radiation and energy is released in the process, and in this particular case, the flash was so powerful that it eclipsed all the stars in this galaxy. This is what attracted the attention of astronomers.

Studying this case will help scientists look for small black holes in dwarf galaxies. This will allow us to learn more about both these galaxies and their interactions with medium-mass black holes. The new data will also help classify black holes and tidal bursts.

We may even be able to find out how supermassive black holes grow to such sizes, and whether their size affects their role in the galaxy.