RX J1242−11
Template:Short description Template:Infobox Galaxy
RX J1242.6−1119A (often abbreviated RX J1242−11) is an elliptical galaxy located approximately 200 megaparsecs (about 650 million light-years) from Earth. The name is derived from RX J1242.6-1119, the term for an X-ray source identified by ROSAT as a galaxy pair [KG99] A & B.
Supermassive black hole
File:Rxj1242 tidal disruption sm.webm According to current interpretations of X-ray observations made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton, the center of this galaxy is a 100 million solar mass supermassive black hole which was observed to have tidally disrupted a star (in 1992 or shortly before).<ref name="kom">Template:Citation</ref> The discovery is widely considered to be the first strong evidence of a supermassive black hole ripping apart a star and consuming a portion of it.<ref>NASA: "Giant Black Hole Rips Apart Unlucky Star" Template:Webarchive</ref>
Location in the sky
The location of RX J1242.6-1119A, as seen from Earth, is less than one degree to the northeast of Messier 104, the Sombrero Galaxy.