A planetary telescope named TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has produced images of a black hole in space tearing apart a star.
An attack by a black hole is a major astronomical event that only occurs once every 10,000 to 100,000 years.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
What Is a Black Hole?
A black hole is a region of space made up of powerful gravitational forces. The forces are so strong that nothing can escape from the hole.
According to the website Space, they “are some of the strangest and most fascinating objects in outer space.”
What’s Special About This Sighting?
Astronomers have known about black holes for centuries, but they did not actually see one until 1971.
A stellar event this huge is known as a tidal disruption event because it causes a total reconfiguration of the stars surrounding it.
Is There Life Out There?
Science fiction writers have long toyed with the idea of life existing in a black hole, most recently in the 2014 movie Interstellar.
NASA scientists, however, say that a black hole would not support human life.