Star Swallowed by Supermassive Black Hole Sends Ghostly Particle to Earth

Star Swallowed by Supermassive Black Hole Sends Ghostly Particle to Earth
An illustration of a tidal disruption event, in which a star is shredded and swallowed by a supermassive black hole, which launches a tremendous amount of energy in a plasma jet-like outflow. DESY, Science Communication Lab
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A high-energy particle, thought to have been sent our way by a supermassive black hole hundreds of millions of years ago, has collided with Earth and offered astronomers a rare insight into black holes.

Supermassive black holes are behemoths hiding in the centers of galaxies. Their gravitational force is so strong that if an unlucky star gets too close to it, the star will be shredded into pieces.