Astronomers have observed the aftermath of a supermassive black hole eating a distant star using a network of telescopes all over the world.

The rare phenomenon was captured by the , a group of 21 radio telescopes stationed all over the world that combine observations to make high-precision measurements of faraway galaxies.

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The telescope network, described as "Earth-sized," observed a jet of particles moving close to the speed of light spewing out of a supermassive black hole in the Draco constellation.

Gravity Takes Over

When a star moves close to a supermassive black hole, the immense gravitational force can violently disrupt a star. Some of the gas in the star is drawn toward the black hole, forming a disc around it. The gravitational energy is converted into electromagnetic radiation, creating a bright source that is visible at many different wavelengths.

Some of the star's material is ejected from the black hole in dramatic fashion, creating a narrow beam of particles known as a "relativistic jet" , according to Scientific American.

After observing the jets for three years, astronomers say those jets remained unusually static.

"We looked for motion close to the light speed in the jet, so-called superluminal motion," said Jun Yang, who works at the Onsala Space Observatory and led the research.

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"Over our three years of observations, such movement should have been clearly detectable. But our images reveal instead very compact and steady emission - there is no apparent motion. These are some of the sharpest measurements ever made by radio telescopes," he continued.

Yang said astronomers hope the collected data will provide better insightinto what happens when a supermassive black hole eats a star, as well as information as to , according to Engadget.

"In the future, new, giant radio telescopes like FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) and SKA (Square Kilometer Array) will allow us to make even more detailed observations of these extreme and exciting events," Yang concluded.

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At a Glance

A network of 21 radio telescopes recently observed a supermassive black hole eating a star.