Supermassive black hole swallows star in rare cosmic explosion

Astronomers have captured a rare "tidal disruption event" in which a supermassive black hole swallowed a star. The event, designated 2025abcr, produced a massive explosion that peaked at a brightness approximately 10 billion times that of the Sun, momentarily outshining its entire host galaxy.

Uniquely, the black hole—estimated to be about 1 million times the mass of the Sun—was detected 30,000 light-years away from the center of its galaxy. This makes it the largest off-center tidal disruption event observed via optical methods to date. Researchers refer to such objects as "wandering" or "orphan" black holes.

Using machine learning algorithms to scan data from the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory, scientists identified the flash among 500,000 nightly light changes. The study, led by Robert David Stein of the University of Maryland, was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Scientists suggest the black hole may have been displaced due to galactic mergers or gravitational interactions.