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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Scientists record 'death rattle' of star hitting black hole

Artist's impression of the aftermath of star being consumed by a massive black hole in a galaxy 3.8 billion light years away. It blasted jets of energy from the black hole, one of which pointed directly at our own galaxy, enabling scientists to study and reconstruct the cosmic drama.

Artist's impression of the aftermath of star being consumed by a massive black hole in a galaxy 3.8 billion light years away. It blasted jets of energy from the black hole, one of which pointed directly at our own galaxy, enabling scientists to study and reconstruct the cosmic drama.

In late March, NASA's Swift satellite picked up a blast of gamma rays screaming past Earth.

Astronomers rushed to take a closer look, using powerful telescopes from Hawaii to the Canary Islands to check out the high-energy jet coming from a distant galaxy in the constellation Draco.

They initially speculated a collapsing star created the blast. Now they report that it appears a star the size of the sun was shredded by a massive black hole. Its "death rattle" was a high-energy flash or jet pointed straight at the Earth.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/technology/Scientists+record+death+rattle+star+hitting+black+hole/4958958/story.html#ixzz1PTVQ9CPL

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