Black Hole Four Million Times Bigger Than the Sun Shreds a Star

New post on therightplanet.com Black Hole Four Million Times Bigger Than the Sun Shreds a Star by Sard Out-of-this-world images show a star being EATEN by gigantic black hole four million times bigger than the sun PUBLISHED: 22:10 EST, 2 May 2012 | UPDATED: 22:12 EST, 2 May 2012 Astronomers have spotted a unique sight - a star in a distant galaxy being 'eaten' by a black hole four million times the size of the sun. The resulting gigantic explosion sparked a flare so brilliant that observers detected it from a distance of 2.1 billion light-years away. Giant black holes occupy the centers of most large galaxies, including our own. Its central black hole is four million times as massive as the sun and swallows a star once every 10,000 to 100,000 years. Astronomers first picked up a signal from the constellation Draco in May 2010, when the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii spotted a flare at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The scientists calculate that the black hole's gravity had torn the star apart a month earlier by pulling harder on one side of the star than the other. [...] READ MORE AT DAILYMAIL.CO.UK Sard | May 3, 2012 at 11:05 am | Categories: Astronomy, Conservatism, Science | URL: http://wp.me/p1SHGG-5iU Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe or change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://www.therightplanet.com/2012/05/black-hole-four-million-times-bigger-than-the-sun-shreds-a-star/

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