(click on image to enlarge)
From NASA/ ESA, March 9, 2020: The subject of this Picture of the Week, a spiral galaxy
named NGC 1589, was once the scene of a violent bout of cosmic hunger
pangs; as astronomers looked on, a poor, hapless star was torn apart and
devoured by the ravenous supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy.
The astronomers are now using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to test this interpretation. Hubble has observed such events before
so the scientists are confident that Hubble will be able to provide
smoking gun evidence in the form of stellar debris that was ejected
during the disruption event.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
