Scientists Intrigued by "Star Grinder" Pulverizing Entire Star Systems in Our Galaxy
As detailed in a new paper to be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and first spotted by Universe Today, astronomers in the Czech Republic and Germany suggest that B-type stars, which are only a few times the mass of the Sun, as well as much heavier O-type stars, are being blended up with tens of thousands of smaller black holes near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
According to the theory, only the smaller and older B-type stars can survive this ordeal, with the much more massive O-type stars succumbing to their early demise less than five million years into their lifespan — and turning into more small black holes in the maelstrom instead.
The research could force us to reconsider what we know about the violent events happening at the center of our galaxy — a brutal cycle of life and death, right at the core of the Milky Way.
The research could also explain an observation that has puzzled astronomers for years. Within less than a tenth of a light-year from Sagittarius*, O-type stars are nowhere to be found. B-type stars, however, are the predominant type so close to the giant black hole, many of which have been observed to be ejected from the center at extremely fast speeds.
"The smaller B-stars can survive much longer, in fact for some 50 million years," said lead author and Charles University, Czechia, astronomy PhD Jaroslav Haas in a statement. "This explains why the heavy O-type stars are missing at distances smaller than about one-tenth of a light year from SgrA*, with only B-stars surviving there."
"These results give us an entirely new understanding of the immediate surroundings of the central super-massive black hole," explained coauthor and Charles University astrophysicist Pavel Kroupa.
Haas and his colleagues found that the density of black holes actually increases as you move away from the galactic center, before dropping again at a certain distance.
Such a density profile is a "result of the complicated dynamical processes near the central super-massive black hole and our results will allow us to perform new computer simulations to better understand these," explained coauthor and head of the Charles University Astronomical Institute Ladislav Šubr.
The researchers are now excited to better understand the "violent pack of thousands of black holes at the center of our Galaxy that is continuously destroying the stars down there," according to coauthor and Charles University astronomer Myank Singhal.
More on Sagittarius A*: Scientists Capture Amazing Image of Black Hole at Center of Our Galaxy
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
11 hours ago
- Newsweek
Map Shows Where Millions Can See International Space Station on Thursday
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Millions of Americans and Canadians will have a chance to see the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday night as it cuts a path across North America. Why It Matters The ISS orbits Earth and houses astronauts and a research laboratory for experiments in microgravity. The ISS is maintained by NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. It travels at about 17,500 mph and completes an orbit around Earth every 90 minutes. What To Know At times, the ISS is visible from the U.S. as it orbits Earth. The next chance Americans will have at sighting the space station will be Thursday night as it cuts from Northwest Canada through parts of the Northeastern U.S. in a span of a few minutes. "The International Space Station is visible because it reflects sunlight—the same reason we can see the Moon," a NASA webpage about the ISS says. "However, unlike the Moon, the space station is not bright enough to see during the day. Viewing opportunities can range from one a month to several a week as the light from the Sun reflects off station as it passes overhead at dawn and dusk at the user's preferred location." No equipment will be needed to view the ISS as it passes over the U.S., as it is visible to the naked eye. Millions of Americans outside the ISS' direct path also will have a chance to see it. A map from AccuWeather shows the planned path of the ISS. Shortly after 9:25 p.m. ET, the ISS will travel from Canada into New York, where it will continue its southeastern path for hardly more than a minute before it exits over the Atlantic Ocean. A map from AccuWeather shows where the ISS will be visible on July 24, 2025. A map from AccuWeather shows where the ISS will be visible on July 24, 2025. AccuWeather The timeline is as follows: 9:22-9:25 p.m. ET: The ISS will be traveling southeast over Ontario, Canada. The ISS will be traveling southeast over Ontario, Canada. 9:25-9:26 p.m. ET: The ISS will travel over Northern New York, Southern Vermont, far Southwestern New Hampshire and through Massachusetts to exit over the Atlantic Ocean. The ISS will travel over Northern New York, Southern Vermont, far Southwestern New Hampshire and through Massachusetts to exit over the Atlantic Ocean. 9:27-9:29 p.m. ET: The ISS will continue its path over the Atlantic Ocean. Anyone within the viewing circle will be able to see the space station if weather conditions are right, meaning millions as far south as Georgia up through Maine and Michigan will have a chance at spotting the ISS. The ISS is bright enough that people can spot it even in large cities with light pollution. However, cloudy conditions could disrupt the viewing in some areas. "It looks like there could be some clouds on the western side of that near the Great Lakes, so Wisconsin, the Toronto area," AccuWeather meteorologist Alex DaSilva told Newsweek. "Those areas I'm a little worried there could be some clouds in the way." People further east in Southeastern Ohio, Pennsylvania and Western New York will have the best chance to view the ISS. All ISS viewings occur a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset. The ISS includes six sleeping areas, two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree-view bay window, NASA says in a webpage. It orbits earth 16 times in 24 hours, "traveling through 16 sunrises and sunsets." What People Are Saying AccuWeather posted on X on Thursday morning: "The International Space Station [ISS] will fly over the eastern United States and parts of Canada just after sunset on Thursday evening, an easy-to-see event for millions of residents across the region." NASA in a webpage about the ISS: "The acre of solar panels that power the station means sometimes you can look up in the sky at dawn or dusk and see the spaceship flying over your home, even if you live in a big city." What Happens Next NASA suggests people who want a chance to view the ISS when it passes over the U.S. to download Spot the Station, a mobile app that notifies users about potential ISS viewings.
Gizmodo
12 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Interstellar Visitor Zipping Through Our Solar System Could Be a Hostile Probe, Alien-Hyping Scientists Warn
There's a visitor in town, and its name is 3I/ATLAS. The presumed interstellar comet presents a rare opportunity for astronomers to study an object born a long time ago in a star system far, far away. But a new paper uploaded to the preprint arXiv server asks an intriguing question: Is the object actually alien technology? For Harvard astronomer and study co-author Abraham Loeb, this is not his first interstellar rodeo. In 2018, Loeb proposed that the interstellar object 'Oumuamua might be an alien probe. He's now back at it, along with co-authors Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl from the UK's Initiative for Interstellar Studies, asking the same question about 3I/ATLAS. The team is essentially flagging 3I/ATLAS as a candidate for alien technology and, perhaps alarmingly, as something that might actually pose an existential threat to humanity. Sounds absolutely bonkers, but it's a topic worth exploring and not something to reflexively toss onto the garbage heap. From the moment it entered our view, 3I/ATLAS—the third interstellar object ever detected in our solar system—instantly became the biggest news in astronomy for the month, if not the year. Astronomers are using the rare opportunity to study the object in as much detail as possible using the best instruments available. A clear picture of the object is emerging, suggesting it's very likely an enormous, icy comet that's considerably older than our solar system; preliminary estimates suggest it's 0.74 miles long (1.2 kilometers) and dates back some 7 billion years. An Interstellar Comet Is Here, and Its Age Is Mind-Bending The interstellar interloper is zipping through our solar system at ludicrous speeds, clocking in at 37 miles (60 kilometers) per second. Its velocity is so extreme that it'll exit our solar system and disappear from our view later this year, escaping the gravitational influence of our Sun. Astronomers are therefore under a tight deadline to understand everything they possibly can about 3I/ATLAS—an object that originated in some faraway protoplanetary or planetary system. That said, astronomers have already made some great strides in sketching out the finer details of 3I/ATLAS, quickly churning out papers pertaining to the visitor's age, size, velocity, spin, and, most importantly, its origin, based on observational data. According to research released earlier this week, the object is a jumble of organic molecules, silicates, and carbon-based minerals, placing it in a similar compositional category as asteroids found between Mars and Jupiter. Based on current data—much of it from researchers working with the newly launched Vera C. Rubin Observatory—3I/ATLAS is expected to pass through the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter later this fall, reaching its closest point to the Sun in late October. Excitingly, the Sun's warmth should sublimate enough ice on the comet to brighten the coma and tail even further. Suffice it to say, astronomers' ongoing investigations into 3I/ATLAS largely confirm that it's a cometary castaway. Like other comets we've seen before, 3I/ATLAS likely emerged from natural processes and was banished to interstellar space by some gravitational interaction, such as a close encounter with a gigantic planet or a passing star. Importantly, and despite strange, unfounded claims made in the new Loeb paper, there's zero indication that 3I/ATLAS is anything but a natural object formed by natural processes. Yet that hasn't stopped Loeb and his colleagues from venturing beyond the existing evidence. What's more, they've violated Occam's razor—a central tenet of the scientific method. Scientists are told that the simplest explanation is often the best when tackling puzzling phenomena. In this case, the simplest explanation, given the existing evidence, is that 3I/ATLAS is a comet. Often, when astronomers detect something unusual or inexplicable in space, there's the urge to invoke extraterrestrial influence. The Many, Many Times Astronomers Mistook Mundane Phenomena for Aliens This seems to be the case here, but as we'll discuss next, these researchers are not wrong to be asking these sorts of questions. As Sara Webb, an astrophysicist at the Swinburne University of Technology, wrote in The Conversation, 'Objects like 3I/ATLAS remind us that space is vast, strange, and full of surprises. Most of them have natural explanations. But the strangest objects are worth a second look.' Loeb and his colleagues do bring up a salient point—that we need to be curious about this object and not simply assume that it is what we think it is. Moreover, the team's warning that this object, should it be an alien probe, poses a potential hostile threat to humanity is rooted in some fascinating—if not disturbing—philosophical arguments having to do with our failed search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. The first is the Fermi Paradox—the surprising observation that, despite our galaxy's immense size and extreme age, we have yet to see any signs of intelligent aliens. As Italian physicist Enrico Fermi famously asked in 1950, 'Where is everybody?' This conundrum, known as the Great Silence, is not so easy to brush aside, as virtually all proposed solutions fail to convincingly account for the conspicuous absence of a Milky Way filled with extraterrestrials and extraterrestrial technology. This has led a number of philosophers, astrobiologists, and science-fiction writers to propose some rather grim solutions to the Fermi Paradox, that is, solutions that point to a galaxy devoid of space-faring civilizations. Loeb's new paper invokes one of these solutions, an idea known as the Dark Forest hypothesis. The term is borrowed from sci-fi author Liu Cixin, who made note of this possibility in his The Three-Body Problem trilogy, specifically the 2008 novel The Dark Forest. In Liu's imagined universe, intelligent civilizations stay silent and hidden because any interaction with aliens could be fatal; since it's impossible to know another civilization's intentions, the safest move is to eliminate potential threats before they can act. Hence, a Dark Forest galaxy, in which advanced civilizations take the form of silent hunters. This general concept didn't start with Liu; sci-fi novelist and SETI expert David Brin has been ruminating over the possibility of killer alien probes since 1983. As Loeb and his colleagues argue in the new paper, 3I/ATLAS, should it be artificial, is likely to possess 'active intelligence.' If that's the case, the object might be friendly, evil, or possibly something in between, they write. If it's benign, we can relax, but it's the second possibility—that it's malign—that's cause for 'most concern.' That's because the Dark Forest resolution to the Fermi Paradox is the more likely scenario, 'as it would neatly explain the singular lack of success of the SETI initiative to-date,' according to the paper. In other words, the reason we have yet to encounter aliens is that they're stealthy hunters, and this interstellar visitor, should it be a probe, likely belongs to that class of civilizations. Which is obviously not good for us. This argument brings the Berserker probe concept to mind, an idea proposed by another science fiction writer, Fred Saberhagen. The concept is as simple as it is disturbing: the solution to the Fermi Paradox is that all intelligent life is wiped out by self-replicating machines—known as Von Neumann probes—that methodically sterilize the galaxy of intelligence. All this talk of interstellar probes may seem outlandish, but there are a few things worth considering. First, our galaxy, across its 13-billion-year history, has likely spawned numerous advanced civilizations, many of which were (or are) capable of launching probes on interstellar missions. Secondly, we ourselves have already launched three interstellar (or interstellar-bound) probes as a result of exploring our immediate environment: both Voyager probes and New Horizons. It's therefore not unreasonable to assume that interstellar probes of varying ages and technologies are zipping around the Milky Way. One day, we just might spot one of these alien artifacts passing through our neck of the celestial woods. Let's hope it's friendly.
Forbes
16 hours ago
- Forbes
Strange New Object Found In Solar System ‘Dancing' With Neptune
Astronomers surveying the outer solar system have revealed that a rare object far beyond Neptune is moving in sync with the eighth planet in an unexpected way. Called 2020 VN40 and first discovered in 2020, it takes 1,655 Earth-years to orbit the sun. The news comes just weeks after 2023 KQ14 — nicknamed 'Ammonite' — was found beyond Neptune and Pluto. Together, these newly found objects change the way astronomers think distant objects move and how the solar system evolved. The orbital path of 2020 VN40 — in yellow — is tilted up and to the left from the orbits of most of ... More the objects in the solar system. PSI/Kathryn Volk 2020 VN40 is currently 140 times farther from the sun than Earth. For context, Neptune is 29 times farther from the sun than Earth. However, the object's orbit is highly elliptical, getting just 40 times farther from the sun than Earth. Most planets — including Earth — orbit the sun in nearly the same flat plane. Some distant objects, such as 2020 VN40, have orbits that are highly inclined relative to this plane. The object appears to be in a 10:1 resonance with Neptune, meaning that it orbits the sun once for every ten orbits Neptune completes. It's the first object ever found to do that. The size of 2020 VN40 is unknown because it's too far away to be directly measured. However, based on its brightness, it may have a diameter of around 56 miles (90 kilometers). Published this month in the American Astronomical Society's The Planetary Science Journal , the discovery supports the theory that many distant objects get captured by Neptune's gravity as they drift through the outer solar system. 'This is a big step in understanding the outer solar system,' said Rosemary Pike, lead researcher from the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 'It shows that even very distant regions influenced by Neptune can contain objects, and it gives us new clues about how the solar system evolved.' It could also shed light on the motion of objects in the outer solar system. 'This new motion is like finding a hidden rhythm in a song we thought we knew,' said Ruth Murray-Clay, co-author of the study, from the University of California in Santa Cruz. 'It could change how we think about the way distant objects move.' 2020 VN40 took six years to be discovered and for its orbit to be mapped. It was discovered by astronomers working on the Large Inclination Distant Objects survey, a search for unusual objects in the outer solar system with orbits that extend far above and below the plane of the solar system. It's a region of the solar system that few astronomers have studied. The researchers used the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and Gemini North in Hawaii and Magellan Baade and Gemini South in Chile. The LiDO survey has now found over 140 distant objects. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, which published its first stunning images in June, is expected to find many more objects in the outer solar system. 'With the imminent start of Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time, we expect many more such discoveries to open a new window into the solar system's past,' said Kathryn Volk of the Planetary Science Institute. Rubin is also expected to find more interstellar objects — such as ancient comet 3I/ATLAS. Background Another newly discovered object that could reshape astronomers' understanding of the solar system's past is 'Ammonite,' or 2023 KQ14, an object discovered in the solar system beyond Neptune and Pluto. Classed as a sednoid — an object similar to Sedna, a dwarf planet candidate in the outer solar system found in 2003 — Ammonite orbits beyond Neptune and has a highly eccentric orbital path. It's thought to be between 137 and 236 miles (220 and 380 kilometers) in diameter and between 70 and 432 times farther from the sun than Earth. Further Reading Forbes Meet 'Ammonite' — A New World Just Found In The Solar System By Jamie Carter Forbes Complete Guide To 'Ammonite,' The Solar System's Latest Member By Jamie Carter Forbes See The First Jaw-Dropping Space Photos From Humanity's Biggest-Ever Camera By Jamie Carter Forbes World's Biggest Camera May Find 50 Interstellar Objects, Scientists Say By Jamie Carter Forbes Where Newly Found 'Ammonite' Is In Solar System — And Why It Matters By Jamie Carter
