Inexplicably young stars are barreling through space at breakneck speeds as they circle precariously close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. This stellar dance may initially appear to be random, but a new study has revealed that these infant stars are moving around in a surprisingly organized manner, similar to swarming insects like bees.
Around 30 years ago, researchers first discovered a group of around 100 stars, known as the S-cluster, orbiting extremely closely to the Milky Way's black hole heart, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). These stars, known as S-stars, are all relatively young — less than 100 million years old — and are all located within a few light-years of the giant black hole. The intense gravity from the space-time tear propels the stars to speeds more than 2.2 million mph (3.5 million km/h) — around five times faster than the sun travels through the Milky Way.
