Now exactly how much and how fast of all these is completely unknown and that's the excitement about it because we will learn about it. We have basically a test experiment. We know we've thrown sort of speed at this black hole and of certain amount of mass which we roughly know. We know when it is and how close it comes, and we can test over time how much happened. 

 

It's that chance to see a black hole feed at close range that had shaken the community of astronomers into an uncharacteristic further of excitement. 

 

We are facing here a very unusual situation in astronomy, namely that things are getting urgent. I mean we only have half a year left or so then you really want to observe it. 

 

Most of the objects we observe in astronomy are not evolving on the time scale of a human life. That means mostly they look the same regardless if I look or if my grandson would look or whatever, it would be the same. But here we have an unusual case that the situation will change dramatically and quickly within a few years. That gas cloud was a compact object in 2004 and probably it will be completely shredded in 2013. 

 

No one knows for sure what will happen, an uncertainty that only adds to the sense of anticipation. 

 

Is it a cloud or is it a star? And I guess I'm of the opinion that this is a star, a star that has a material around it. But we know about other stars in this region that has material around it. So that wouldn't make it unusual. 

 

If it's a star, the black hole might not get a bite it. As of now, no one can be certain. 

 

This is what makes science interesting because it's a point where you get to gamble. You get to make a bet—what is this, what should happen next?