A black-hole breakfast

"It's like the problem of the bird and the worm," says Dr. Christopher Martin, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology. To actually see a black hole eating a star, "you have to be in the right place at the right time, looking in the right direction and paying attention."

Wait a minute. Black holes eat breakfast? Aren't "holes" supposed to be empty? In fact, black holes are stuffed with great gobs of matter crushed into a fantastically tiny space. This gives them powerful gravity, strong enough to pull in entire stars. The gravity of a black hole is so strong that not even light can escape. That's why they are called "black" holes.

When a star wanders too close to a black hole, and the meal begins, the star is ripped apart by terrible gravitational forces. This ripping action sends out waves of X-rays and ultraviolet light. Think of it as a black hole "burp."

Now for some exciting news: Recently, a group of astronomers caught a black hole having breakfast. In a distant galaxy, they saw a black hole gulp down a star and "burp" a blast of ultraviolet light. They found the blast using NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). GALEX is a space telescope that sees the universe in ultraviolet light. The astronomers were able to watch the process from beginning to end, which helps them understand how black holes feed and grow.

Watch the cartoon talk show interview of Dr. Martin, and learn more about GALEX at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/live.

This Learning Link was written by Dr. Tony Phillips and provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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