Scientists Intrigued by "Star Grinder" Pulverizing Entire Star Systems in Our Galaxy

It's a violent place. Astronomers suggest there's a giant "star grinder" lurking at the center of the Milky Way, churning up potentially tens of thousands of star systems that are unfortunate enough to get too close. 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 ev ... Read full article.