Astronomers catch a rare middleweight black hole shredding a star

Astronomers identified AT2022zod, an off-nuclear optical flare consistent with a tidal disruption event caused by an intermediate-mass black hole. Spotted in a distant galaxy about 1.5 billion light-years away and lasting roughly a month, its off-center location and short duration suggest the presence of an IMBH outside galactic centers, possibly in a globular cluster or ultracompact dwarf galaxy. This finding adds to evidence for elusive middleweight black holes and points to Rubin Observatory’s LSST as a key tool for discovering more cases.