This Black Hole Is Really Taking Its Time Eating a Poor Star Share Filed to:all sky automated survey for supernovae The star loses mass every time it passes the black hole. (Gif: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR)) To sign up for our daily newsletter covering the latest news, features and reviews, head HERE. For a running feed of all our stories, follow us on Twitter HERE. Or you can bookmark the Gizmodo Australia homepage to visit whenever you need a news fix. On November 14, 2014, a telescope spotted a burst of light in a galaxy 570 million light-years away. It was thought to be a supernova, an arrestingly bright explosion that marks a star’s death. This week, astronomers revealed that the burst was not a supernova after all, but rather a black hole having dinner — one of many repeating “meals,” as the black hole slowly gobbles up a star stuck in its orbit.