Cosmic Fireworks Erupt When Black Hole in Dragon's Belly
Swallows Star Waves emanating from a brilliant explosion in the
constellation Draco (Latin for "dragon") -- about 3.8 billion
light years from Earth -- are continuing to be observed long
after scientists expected the event to stop. The best
explanation at the moment is that the black hole at Draco's
center swallowed a star, creating the spectacular cosmic light
show. A mysterious cosmic blast in the constellation Draco has
astronomers scrambling to try to understand its cause, so unlike
is it to anything ever observed before. Rather than the short-
lived gamma-ray bursts typically associated with the death of a
massive star -- most last no more than a few hours -- this
explosion continues more than a week later to emanate pulses of
high-energy cosmic radiation for an effect that's brighter,
longer lasting, and more variable than scientists have ever
seen. "We know of objects in our own galaxy that can produce
repeated bursts, but they are thousands to mi