Astronomers catch first glimpse of star being consumed by black hole

For the first time ever, astronomers say they've borne witness to a supermassive black hole consuming a star.

     Two papers released this week by the journal Nature describe powerful blasts of radiation whose brightness and behaviour can only be explained by a Sun-sized star being torn apart by the gravitational forces of a black hole at the centre of its galaxy, the authors say.

     Scientists believe they have seen the aftermath of such stellar violence before, in the form of fading glows emanating from distant galaxies, in whose centres supermassive black holes usually reside. But they had never caught one in the act.

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