Cosmic monster tore a star to shreds — and revealed a secret in space

A mysterious flash of light led to the discovery of a massive black hole, millions of times larger than the Sun, located far from the center of its galaxy. The black hole tore a star apart in a tidal disruption event, and researchers are trying to understand how it ended up in its unusual location.

A mysterious flash of light in space led astronomers to discover a black hole with a mass between one million and ten million times that of the Sun, located about 3,500 light-years from the center of its galaxy. The black hole was discovered after it tore a star apart in a process known as a 'tidal disruption event,' which produced a flash of light that peaked within about 30 days, with temperatures remaining around 20,000 degrees for over a month. The black hole's location surprised scientists, as black holes of such large mass are usually found at the centers of galaxies. Researchers speculate that the black hole once belonged to a smaller galaxy that merged with a larger one, and that an additional active black hole exists at the galaxy's center. Another mystery emerged in radio observations: the radio signal associated with the event appeared only more than a year after the light flash. The findings were published in late September on the arXiv research repository and have not yet undergone peer review.