In November 2025, an automated camera in Southern California captured a surprising event: a star was being destroyed far from the center of its galaxy. The Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory constantly scans the sky, and a special artificial intelligence program noticed an unusual burst of light.
Researchers explained that the AI recognized a flare that matched a star being torn apart by gravity. The unusual part was its location, on the outskirts of a galaxy, far from where black holes usually are. When a star gets too close to a black hole, its strong gravity pulls the star apart. The material from the star heats up and creates a bright flash of light. This particular event, located about 750 million light-years away, was extremely powerful, shining as brightly as ten billion suns at its peak.
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Southern Astrophysical Research telescope in Chile gathered more data. By analyzing the light and temperature, scientists confirmed that a black hole had indeed consumed a star, despite its strange location. Supermassive black holes are usually found at the centers of galaxies. Before 2024, all observed star destructions by black holes happened in galactic centers. This new event, AT2024tvd, occurred over 30,000 light-years from its galaxy's center, setting a new record.
Scientists believe this wandering black hole might have come from a smaller galaxy that collided with the larger one. It could have been thrown out by gravitational forces during the collision or is part of a smaller galaxy being absorbed. This discovery shows that astronomers can find hidden black holes by observing when they consume stars. New telescopes will help search for more of these wandering objects in the universe.