Science and Technology Facilities Council
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Killer black hole devours star in a flash

One of the biggest and brightest bangs ever recorded by astronomers came from a massive black hole at the centre of a distant galaxy. The black hole appears to have ripped apart a star that wandered too close, creating a powerful beam of energy that crossed the 3.8 billion light years to Earth.

The observations, published in the journal Science, were carried out by an international team including STFC-funded astronomers from the universities of Warwick, Leicester and Hertfordshire. They used an array of space and ground based facilities including the Hubble, UKIRT (UK Infrared Telescope) and Gemini telescopes to witness this catastrophic event.

Dr Andrew Levan of the University of Warwick, the collaboration's lead researcher said "Despite the power of this the cataclysmic event, we only saw this event because our solar system happened to be looking right down the barrel of this jet of energy".

Professor Nial Tanvir from University of Leicester added "It is rare for stars to get very close to the black holes in the centre of galaxies, but when they do, they will always come off second best."

Read the full press release on University of Warwick's web site (link opens in a new window).

STFC is the UK sponsor of astronomy. It is a partner in the Gemini observatory, owns and operates UKIRT, and supported the UK development of instruments for the Swift mission.

Swift is a NASA mission in partnership with the Italian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. The UK astronomers involved in this research were funded by STFC.

Page last updated: 17 June 2011 by Stephanie Hills

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