Astronomers spot rare 'wandering' black hole shredding a star at galaxy's edge

At the frayed edge of a distant galaxy, far from where such things are supposed to happen, a supermassive black hole has been caught in the act of destroying a star. Ejected long ago from its galaxy's center through the gravitational chaos of a cosmic merger, this wandering giant drifted through the void until chance placed a star in its path. NASA's Swift telescope detected the resulting tidal disruption event — a brilliant, fleeting flare crossing billions of light-years — offering humanity its clearest glimpse yet of what it means for a black hole to be truly homeless. In the vastness of th