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The event occurred at 8,550 billion billion kilometers from Earth and was detected by gravitational wave detectors in Italy and the United States. The detectors, named LIGO and Virgo, observed ripples in space and time, which would be a black hole devouring a neutron star. The violent event would have occurred about 900 million years ago.
A video shows the artist representing a star swallowing a black hole and explains that the masses of the two objects are still "precisely determined".
Gravitational waves are disturbances of the curvature of space-time and are supposed to be created by the acceleration of an object.
A neutron star is the collapsed nucleus of a giant star, consisting essentially of protons and electrons merging into each other to form neutrons.
Dense stars have a mass of about 1.4 times that of the sun.
READ MORE: NASA footage shows a black hole CONSUME a star in "tidal disturbances"
Susan Scott, head of the group of theory of general relativity and data analysis at the Australian National University, said: "About 900 million years ago, this black hole engulfed a a very dense star, called a neutron star, like Pac-Man, which was perhaps choking the star instantly.
"The ANU 's SkyMapper telescope responded to the detection alert and swept the entire area of probable space where the event occurred, but we' re not sure about it. 39, found no visual confirmation. "
The chief investigator of the ARC Center of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery added, "We have always thought that there should be binary systems consisting of a black hole and a neutron star rotating around it. from space.
"So, if this event were to be confirmed, it would be the first proof that such systems really exist, and that some of them are getting closer together and end up breaking up together.
The discovery was revealed Saturday by NASA astronaut Tuan Do, who tweeted in timelapse his observation of the supermassive black hole in May.
Mr. Do, an astronomer at UCLA, wrote: "Here is a timelapse of images of more than 2.5 hours dating from May from @keckobservatory of the supermassive black hole Sgr A *.
"The black hole is still variable, but it was the brightest we have seen in the infrared until now. It was probably even brighter before we started watching tonight! "
The black hole, known as Sagittarius A * (Sgr A *), is located in the middle of the Milky Way, just 26,000 light-years from Earth, according to NASA.
Scientists observing the black hole for four days in April and May of this year using the Keck II telescope in Hawaii attended the event.
Black holes are one of the most extreme entities in the universe. These mysterious regions of space-time have a power such as nothing – even light can not escape them.
As soon as a black hole begins to devour gas clouds and stars, the material sucked inside warms up at the event's horizon.
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