RX J1242−11

RXJ1242-11 is a galaxy located approximately 200 megaparsecs (about 650 million light-years) from Earth. According to current interpretations of X-ray observations made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton, the centre of this galaxy is a 100 million solar mass supermassive black hole which was observed to have swallowed part of a star which had been pushed by a second star into the black hole. The remaining star was pushed back into the local galaxy.

The discovery is widely considered to be the first strong evidence of a supermassive black hole ripping apart a star and consuming a portion of it.

External links

• NASA Official Release - Giant Black Hole Rips Apart Unlucky Star In Cosmic Reality Show
• Chandra X-Ray Observatory Photo Album - February 18, 2004
• [41QuarkBuchiNeri.pdf]

References

• [Simbad]
• [http://aa.springer.de]