As if they weren't considered beastly enough, black holes can dive into nearby stars and devour them from the inside out, scientists now suggest. Such invasions by such black holes could help explain the most powerful explosions in the universe, gamma-ray bursts, whose origins remain elusive.
The idea needs support from further theoretical work, and observations would help, too. Meanwhile, here's what spawned the notion:
Gamma-ray bursts are narrow beams of intense radiation that can unleash as much energy as our sun will during its entire 10-billion-year lifetime — all in anywhere from milliseconds to a minute or more. The processes that can generate that much energy in that short a time are among the biggest mysteries in astronomy today.
More: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090921-st-black-hole-devour.html (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090921-st-black-hole-devour.html)
Whirly star-gobble intrusions to blame, seemingly
Boffins at Leeds Uni say they have come up with a new explanation for the mysterious astronomical phenomena known as "gamma ray bursts" (GRBs) because they consist of bursts of gamma rays.
GRBs, originally noted by US military spy sats looking for evidence of surreptitious commie nuke tests, are puzzling because of their incredible power. According to NASA, the typical GRB flares "about a million trillion times as brightly as the Sun", lasting anywhere from a few milliseconds to a couple of hours.
More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/21/black_hole_burst_invaders/