Chandra catches Milky Way monster snacking

Researchers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory have, for the first time, observed the black hole at the center of our galaxy devouring material. “This is extremely exciting because it’s the first time we have seen our own neighborhood supermassive black hole devour a chunk of material,” said team leader Frederick K. Baganoff of MIT. “This signal comes from closer to the event horizon of our galaxy’s supermassive black hole than any that we have ever received before. It’s as if the material there sent us a postcard before it fell in.”