"Monstrous Black Hole Devours Three Earths'-Worth of Stars in Stellar Feast"
Astronomers from the University of Leicester have discovered a star similar to our Sun being incrementally devoured by a small black hole, losing the equivalent mass of three Earths with each close pass. The discovery, made using the Swift satellite, provides a "missing link" in our understanding of black holes disrupting orbiting stars and suggests the existence of undiscovered stars in the process of being consumed. The regularity of the star's emissions falls between two known types of outbursts, indicating a connection between them. The researchers anticipate finding more objects like this in the future.
