A large cloud of gas near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is heated and ripped apart in this artist's concept. The cloud will pass close to the black hole over the next few months, and will be destroyed by the black hole's gravity, creating flares of X-rays. The black hole will ingest some of the gas. The illustration also shows the orbits of stars that circle close to the black hole. [ESO/MPE/Marc Schartmann]