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Evidence from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Magellan telescopes in Chile suggest
that a star has been torn apart by an intermediate-mass black hole. In this image, x-rays from Chandra
are shown in blue and are overlaid on an optical image from the Hubble Space Telescope in the
galaxy known as NGC 1399. The Chandra observations show that one of these objects is a so-called
ultraluminous x-ray source, or ULX. ULXs are an unusual class of objects. They emit more
x-rays than any known star, but less than the bright x-ray sources associated with supermassive
black holes. They may actually be an elusive middle-sized black hole that astronomers have
been looking for. If confirmed, this latest discovery from Chandra would be a cosmic double-play.
It would be strong evidence for this intermediate-mass black hole, and it would mark the first time
such a black hole has been caught tearing apart an entire star.