Stars Form Near Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole

New submitter Aspiring Astronomer writes: Scientists report that stars have likely formed near the supermassive black hole in the heart of our galaxy. How does this happen, if a black hole exerts so much gravitational force that not even light can escape? Astronomers believe the black hole may actually facilitate the formation of these stars. According to study author Farhad Yusef-Zadeh, the gases and dusts constantly flowing toward black holes compress and heat up, creating enough disturbance to cause the materials to collapse and then form a star. Yusef-Zadeh speculates that in addition to stars forming near black holes, planets may form there, too. The disk around a protostar (a mass of gas and materials that form early in star formation) breaks off into clumps of matter, and when paired with the extreme force of a black hole, may cause the formation whole planets.

Comments

Re:clarification

[Anonymous Coward]

"How does this happen, if a black hole exerts so much gravitational force that not even light can escape?"
God, I'm sick of that particular bit of hyperbole. Escape velocity is sqrt(2GM/r), so once an object is (M) massive enough, the escape velocity is greater than the speed of light. That doesn't make black holes magical, it doesn't make them marauding, all-devouring nomadic cosmic muggers, and it doesn't allow them to pull things in that are too far away to be pulled in; any more than the earth can pull in the moon, or the sun pull in the earth. Orbital mechanics don't suddenly go out the window once a black hole is involved.

Thought Experiment

[Ukab the Great]

Scientists used to believe that no life would exist at the bottom of the sea around hydrothermal vents do to the kack of light, high heat, and toxic chemicals. Then they visited the hydrothermal vents in subs and found them teeming with all sorts of crazy life, violating their expectations in the most extreme way possible. Perhaps the same holds true for planets near supermassive black holes. And that that's where most of the life is in the galaxy. And that Earth is a bunch of intra-galactic hicks living out in the sticks. Which is why we haven't found any evidence of extra-terrestrial life yet.