Black holes can accelerate stars to near the speed of light
Vladimir Arndt / Alamy
Stars that collide after being sped up by orbiting close to supermassive black holes may be so bright they rival the most powerful supernovae, some of the brightest phenomena in the cosmos. Studying these cosmic crashes could help us learn about the universe’s most massive black holes and their environments.
Near the most massive black holes, stars are expected to move close to the speed of light without getting shredded by their enormous hosts’ gravity. But that doesn’t mean they …
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