Astrophysicists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy have discovered two stars in the process of formation near the Milky Way galaxy's center.Stars form as massive clouds of dust and gas coalesce under their own gravitational attraction. But at this location, just a few light years from the galaxy's center, the gravitational forces were believed to be too strong to allow the formation of stars. Scientists believed the gravitational tides present would tear apart any gas clouds acting as solar nurseries.
A supermassive (4 million solar masses) black hole is believed to sit at the Milky Way's center, with its gravity dominating the local area. These two proto-stars were discovered in the act of formation 7 and 10 light years from the galactic center. Their formation could mean the gas at the center is much denser than previously thought, dense enough to overcome the prevailing gravitational forces.
These results were presented on January 5th at the 213th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
Photo: SPACE.com
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