For the first time astronomers have been able to watch the process of a black hole devouring a star from beginning to end. The observations of the astronomical feast were made over two years by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spacecraft. When Black holes are not busy eating stars or other matter they tend to remain cosmically quiet however every now and then they flare up with a burst of X-rays which scientists believe are caused by stars being ripped apart by gravitational forces prior to being swallowed by a black hole.
Scientists from Caltech have used the GALEX to observe such a flare in unprecedented detail and followed it for two years since it began. According to Suzi Gezari from Caltech it is the first time such an event has been able to be monitored as its occurring.
The flare occurred in a galaxy about 4 billion light years from the Earth and the black hole responsible is thought to be about 10 times as massive as the one that lurks in the centre of our galaxy the Milky Way. 

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