A far-off star, which is now facing a fiery and spectacular demise, is being torn apart by a supermassive black hole. In honour of a cherished children's character, the black hole has been affectionately dubbed "Scary Barbie" by the researchers who first identified it.

One of the most dynamic, brilliant, and fleeting celestial phenomena ever discovered, the supermassive black hole devouring the star is not exactly blazingly bright in the night sky. Instead, astronomers had to search through a vast amount of telescope data to find traces of the star's final moments after it had been hidden for years.

According to Purdue University, the study about a supermassive black hole devouring a star has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

It's ridiculous. We are still not at the brightness of a typical supernova, despite the fact that supernovas are among the most luminous things in the sky. According to co-author of the study Danny Milisavljevic, "This is the most energetic phenomenon I have ever encountered." At Purdue University's College of Science, Milisavljevic teaches physics and astronomy courses as an assistant professor.

Milisavljevic, a specialist in stellar life cycles and particularly star death, observed in the data that it refers to what might be called an extraordinarily abnormal observation, according to Purdue University.