Mysterious Disk of Blue Stars Around M31's Black Hole

A zoom diving deep into the nucleus of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) then dissolving into an animation of a concentration of red stars. Pushing deeper into the animation reveals a disk of young blue stars swirling around a black hole. Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) revealed this disk of young blue stars that were swirling around a black hole in M31 in much the same way that the planets in our solar system revolve around the Sun. Astronomers are perplexed about how the pancake-shaped disk of stars could form so close to a giant black hole. In such a hostile environment, the black hole's tidal forces should tear matter apart, making it difficult for gas and dust to collapse and form stars. The observations, astronomers say, may provide clues to the activities in the cores of more distant galaxies.

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Howto & Style

Tags:

• Mysterious
• Disk
• Blue
• Stars
• Andromeda
• Galaxy
• M31
• Black
• Hole

[ara4096]

Just wanted to clarify for everyone who commented earlier that blue stars are in fact hotter than red giants, and are blue due to their extreme heat

[EmpireLS56KW]

Its funny how we can observe yet wed never be able to visit it not even in a hundred lifetimes.

[smbigboss3]

What rubbish!!!! it's a CG.

[12gallery]

Call me crazy but looks like artificial construction to me.My idea is blue stars support red ones because they are dying.I would call red stars ring CONFEDERATION , blue ring was made by them as nuclear Power Plant .The blue ring containing 400 stars is only a light-year across! Made by nature?I don't think so..The Red ring is about five light-years .the two discs appear to be in the same plane, they are related, but no one yet understands how either disc came into being. .....................

[Schutzstaffel23]

@EmpireLS56KW not even in a million lifetimes

[nasalflute]

uh, whre's the party at?

[wolfgar7z]

Elvis vacations there.

[FfejTball]

yeah cause thats not fucking CGI or anything...lame.

[EmpireLS56KW]

@IamTheMightyMaul Cheery thought isn’t it.

Yeah no more Disney world more football no more tennis no more fine food no more coke-cola it will be one and all just plain curtains.

[IamTheMightyMaul]

@EmpireLS56KW enit by time we even would be able to it be like millions of years but by then the earth would come to its end :L

[crazylabam]

@jonathan7176 this is very cooll yyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeessssss­ssssssss !!!!!!!!

[nodogyougay48]

@spiros66 Haha his is a little better.