When supermassive black holes tear apart suns as they feed, they can release beams of energy and particles that slam through space near the speed of light. Prospects for any planet, solar-system, or galaxy in the way of that beam are dim. If our solar system fell into line with such a black hole energized beam, it'd be history for us. (Much less likely is what happened in the book by A. A. Attanasio, Radix, where psionic creatures that ride the line of such beams manifested on earth to form god minds...).
I've included a picture of recently taken of such a beam. Go here to Bad Astronomy to read an in-depth account of what the various stunning colors in this picture represent).
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