* Astronomy

Scientists identify a black hole choking on stardust

In the center of a distant galaxy, almost 300 million light years from Earth, scientists have discovered a supermassive black hole that is "choking" on a sudden influx of stellar debris.
In a paper published today in Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers from MIT, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and elsewhere report on a "tidal disruption flare" - a dramatic burst of electromagnetic activity that occurs when a black hole obliterates a nearby star. The flare was first discovered on Nov. 11, 2014, and scientists have since trained a variety of telescopes on the event to learn more about how black holes grow and evolve.
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