Black holes unleash delayed radio 'burps' years after tearing apart stars (opens in new tab)

Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have found that when a supermassive black hole tears apart an unlucky star, the fireworks are not over when the first flash fades. Years after the initial outburst, many of these black holes "burp" out streams of material that slam into surrounding gas and glow in radio waves, giving the NSF VLA a front-row seat to how black holes grow and blast energy back into their galaxies.