Astronomers cooperating on a multi-university study have made a fascinating discovery: a group of young stellar objects (YSOs) orbiting the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the center of our galaxy. These young stars, along with the already known S-type stars (an intermediate type of star), exhibit surprisingly organized behavior, challenging previous astronomical theories.
Surprising baby stars
Approximately 30 years ago, astronomers identified a cluster of highly dynamic stars, known as S stars, near Sgr A*. These stars orbit the supermassive black hole at incredible speeds, completing their orbits in just a few years. The presence of these stars in such a hostile environment was very unexpected.
“The S stars were found to be surprisingly young,” said study author Florian Peißker from the University of Cologne’s Institute for Astrophysics. “According to conventional theories, the additional presence of a stellar kindergarten composed of YSOs is completely unexpected.”
Recent technological advancements and long-term observations have provided new insights into these stellar objects. In 2012, an object thought to be a gas cloud was discovered near Sgr A*. Initially believed to be destined for destruction by the black hole, further observations suggested it might be a young stellar object enveloped in a dusty cloud.
The research team conducted a detailed kinematic analysis of a dozen objects in the vicinity of Sgr A*, revealing that they were significantly younger than the known S stars.
“Interestingly, these YSOs exhibit the same behavior as S stars,” Peißker said. “This means that the YSOs circumnavigate the supermassive black hole with speeds of several thousand kilometers per hour in a few years.”
Why Their Presence is Puzzling
The presence of these young stars near Sgr A* is interesting for several reasons. First, the region around a supermassive black hole is incredibly hostile, with intense gravitational forces, high-energy radiation, and turbulent conditions that should prevent star formation. Typically, such environments are expected to contain old, dim stars that have survived the black hole’s influence over long periods.
Second, conventional star formation theories suggest that young stars form in calmer, more stable environments like molecular clouds. The discovery of young stars so close to Sgr A* challenges these theories, as it implies that star formation can occur under extreme conditions or that these stars migrated from a more distant, safer region.
Third, these stars’ organized, disk-like orbits suggest a common formation history or migration pattern influenced by the supermassive black hole’s gravitational forces. This organized structure is unexpected, as random, chaotic orbits would be more likely given the turbulent environment.
What appears as a chaotic swarm of stars actually follows a specific pattern. Both the YSOs and S stars are arranged in a disk-like formation around the supermassive black hole.
“This means that there are specific preferred star constellations,” Peißker said. “The distribution of both star variations resembles a disk, which gives the impression that the supermassive black hole forces the stars to assume an organized orbit.”
This discovery significantly impacts astronomers’ understanding of star formation and dynamics in extreme environments. It challenges the expectation that only old, dim stars could survive near a supermassive black hole. The organized orbits suggest a common formation history or migration path influenced by Sgr A*’s immense gravitational forces.
Astronomers continue to monitor these high-speed stellar objects. In time, they hope to uncover more about their origins and the stars’ mechanisms using advanced telescopes.
The discovery was detailed in the study “Candidate young stellar objects in the S-cluster: Kinematic analysis of a subpopulation of the low-mass G objects close to Sgr A*,” published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
