“When observing nature, chance favors the prepared mind,” as French microbiologist Louis Pasteur said. Now astrophysicists prepared with theories – and a capable satellite – have chanced upon a supermassive black hole literally devouring a star. In March of 2011, NASA’s SWIFT satellite detected a brilliant series of gamma ray bursts from beyond out galaxy. But the pattern of bursts were totally unexpected. So, too, was an energetic jet accelerating away from the site at 99.5% the speed of light. From the wavelengths of this flare – and how it changed over time – researchers quickly understood they must be seeing the results of matter plummeting into a huge black hole about 1 million times more massive than our Sun. Though only seen in its last act of stellar life, the unfortunate star has been named Swift J1644+57. {run movie backwards … and forwards again} In its spectacular death, it solves a puzzle for human scientists, who previously had only been able to guess at how such amazing events happen For SDC I’m DB