Stars forming just beyond black hole's grasp at galactic center

Monday, January 5, 2009 - 13:35 in Astronomy & Space

The center 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 center 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.

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