Black hole eats star in explosive new images, NASA shares theories

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00:00This summer, while most Americans were chowing down on hot dogs and watching fireworks, an

00:05entirely different light show was happening in a galaxy far, far away.

00:10On July 2nd, astronomers witnessed a black hole eating a star.

00:15At first, scientists were puzzled to observe a record-breaking GRB, or gamma ray burst.

00:21Rutgers University dubbed it one of the universe's strangest explosions.

00:26Most GRBs only last a minute, but this one went on for days.

00:30The initial wave lasted at least seven hours, nearly twice the duration of the longest GRB

00:35ever seen.

00:37So for months, space scientists scratched their heads and crunched the data.

00:42Then on Monday, December 8th, NASA reported it was actually a new kind of stellar explosion.

00:48They named it GRB 250702B, and their best guess?

00:54It's a black hole consuming a star.

00:57A black hole's gravity is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape.

01:02In this case, NASA said one of two things occurred.

01:06Exciting possibilities include a black hole weighing a few thousand times the sun's mass,

01:10shredding a star that passed too close to it.

01:13Or a much smaller black hole merging with and consuming its stellar companion.

01:19Astrophysicist Eliza Knights of George Washington University called it an outburst unlike any

01:24other we've seen in the past 50 years.

01:28Speaking of outbursts, scientists have long compared black hole behavior to that of a kid

01:32throwing a tantrum.

01:34A 2023 study suggests medium-sized black holes, if they exist, consume stray stars in a similar

01:40way to a messy toddler.

01:43When a star gets trapped in the black hole's orbit, the black hole then begins a prolonged

01:46and violent feast, taking a bite of the star with each lap.

01:51It certainly brings new meaning to the word hangry.