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Horizon

2012-2013

Episode 15: Swallowed by a Black Hole

Duration: 59 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Two EnglandLatest broadcast: on BBC Four HD

In summer 2013, the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way was getting ready to feast.

A gas cloud three times the size of our planet strayed within the gravitational reach of our nearest supermassive black hole. Across the globe, telescopes were being trained on the heart of our galaxy, some 27,000 light years from Earth, in the expectation of observing this unique cosmic spectacle.

For cosmic detectives across the Earth, it was a unique opportunity. For the first time in the history of science, they hoped to observe in action the awesome spectacle of a feeding supermassive black hole. Show less

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