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When Stars Smack into Each Other, They Maintain a Young Appearance

Stars near the center of the Milky Way disguise themselves as youthful stars.

ByElizabeth Gamillo
Credit: ESO / L. Calçada / Spaceengine.org

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Stars within the center of our home galaxy are constantly threatened by collision, as they orbit around the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A (Sgr A). How close the stars are to Sgr A decides whether they crash into other nearby stars, stuck in a merging steadfast clash, or only lose their outer layer and keep hurtling into orbit.

"They whack into each other and keep going," said Sanaea Rose, study lead author and astrophysicist at Northwestern University, in a press release. "They just graze each other as though exchanging a very violent high-five. This causes the stars to eject some material and lose their outer layers."

Aside from understanding what happens to stars near each other, a new study could help astrophysicists learn more about the Milky Way galaxy, its past, and how its central star cluster changes over time. "At the very least, it certainly provides a ...

  • Elizabeth Gamillo

    Elizabeth Gamillo is a staff writer for Discover and Astronomy. She has written for Science magazine as their 2018 AAAS Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Intern and was a daily contributor for Smithsonian. She is a graduate student in MIT's Graduate Program in Science Writing.

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