Powerful cosmic blast as black hole shreds star (Jennifer Carpenter)

Infalling star shown in an artist's conception; 10% of its mass is turned into energy and radiated as X-rays

June 16, 2011 (BBC) -- Astronomers have spied a star's swan song as it is shredded by a black hole.

Researchers suspect that the star wandered too close to the black hole and got sucked in by the huge gravitational forces.

The star's final moments sent a flash of radiation hurtling towards Earth.

The energy burst is still visible by telescope more than two-and-a-half months later, the researchers report in the journal Science.

READ MORE: BBC