Stars forming just beyond black hole's grasp at galactic centre
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 - 07:49
in Astronomy & Space
The centre of the Milky Way presents astronomers with a paradox: it holds young stars, but no one is sure how those stars got there. The galactic centre is wracked with powerful gravitational tides stirred by a 4 million solar-mass black hole. Those tides should rip apart molecular clouds that act as stellar nurseries, preventing stars from forming in place. Yet the alternative - stars falling inward after forming elsewhere - should be a rare occurrence...