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Scientists Record Signal of Distant Black Hole Consuming Star
ananyo writes "Astronomers think they have seen the flare of a dying star being eviscerated by a black hole. The signal, spotted by three different satellites, could shed light on the relationship between the smaller black holes seen in our own galaxy and the supermassive ones in distant reaches of the Universe. The stellar victim was first seen in 2011 by Swift, a NASA satellite designed to spot bursts of high-energy photons known as gamma-rays. For more than a month, Swift watched a signal from a distant galaxy, which eventually faded from view. Subsequent analysis showed that the gamma-rays probably came from a star being ripped to pieces by a previously unknown black hole (abstract)."
Celestial snuff films?
You astronomers are sick, you know that?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
So, that's how an interstellar burp sounds? Or was it an interstellar fart?
It wasn't a black hole, it was a hipster hole... You probably didn't know about it until now.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Eviscerated: so the black hole gutted the star? that seems unlikely.
Stars are like lollipops and that you have to start on the outside when you eat them.
-Galactus
I wish astronomers would stop training their telescopes on the activities in this region.
I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
Or just a few lightyears away in the center of our own galaxy.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
The original source "has to be something very close to a black hole", agrees Simon Vaughan, an astronomer at the University of Leicester, UK. But, he adds, "I would express some caution about the result". Light from the distant hole is faint and flickering, and as a result the signal is very noisy, he says. It may be that the researchers have seen a blob of material circling the cosmic drain, but it is also possible that the measurement is a statistical fluke. "Their end result is not so convincing that I would bet serious money on it," he says.
- does anybody know if there are 'black hole is eating a nearby star' bids going? Can I bid a small sum of cash that there is a black hole and it is consuming something alright? The black hole being this spending program and the 'nearby star' is the host economy.
burp!
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Just to clarify, in case anyone jumped to the same conclusion I did at first:
Scientists Record Signal Of Distant Black Hole Consuming A Star
Not:
Scientists Record Signal Of Distant Black-Hole-Consuming Star
Minor difference.
Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
wrong black hole...
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
"Mayor Michael Bloomberg, when asked to comment, suggested that consuming whole stars is a major cause of black hole obesity and that he is introducing legislation to limit black hole consumption to dwarf stars and interstellar gasses. Local law enforcement expressed skepticism that the ban could enforced, since the black holes are "a bajillion light years out of our jurisdiction" but Bloomberg was adamant that "if we can save even one black hole from a life of obesity and health issues then we have an obligation to act no matter what the cost".
Posted for an hour and nothing but bad snarky jokes, grammar complaints and political commentary.
Boy, all I can say is "that REALLY sucks!"
The translated text from the signal.
...as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
Scientists Record Signal of Distant Black Hole Consuming Star
Help meeeeee!
Or just a few lightyears away in the center of our own galaxy.
God bless Slashdot, where ~26,000 light years is considered close.
Oh, sorry, I forgot to give that in standard units: Sagittarius A* is approximately 2*10^18 James Madison Memorial Building widths (ie. largest building in the Library of Congress complex) distant. I apologize for my initial faux pas.
Galactic Center Series to the Rescue !!!
I knew I felt a great disturbance in the force...
Was it something like millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Because stars are not alive.
Who are you and why are you modded near the top of nearly every Slashdot article nowadays? Where did you come from?