Astronomers Find a Supermassive Black Hole That Pits Stars Against Each Other

Observers described it as an almost demolition derby-like collision of stellar remnants and stars in the chaotic neighborhood of the galaxy's central supermassive black hole. The source of the GRB flash lay just 100 light-years away from the heart of the galaxy. It turned out to be in very close proximity to the central supermassive black hole.

"These new results show that stars can meet their demise in some of the densest regions of the Universe where they can be driven to collide," said Andrew Levan, lead author of a paper about the GRB and its source. "This is exciting for understanding how stars die and for answering other questions, such as what unexpected sources might create gravitational waves that we could detect on Earth."