A supermassive black hole shredded a star and was caught in the act
Astronomers have gotten the earliest look yet at a tidal disruption event
![shredded star](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/100219_cw_blackholestar_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C574&ssl=1)
In this illustration, a star that wanders too close to a black hole (top left) is stretched into a spaghetti-like strand with part of the stellar remains flung into space.
Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science