Stars dart near black holes,
Flares of light from their close calls,
Spin saves them from doom.
Flares of light from their close calls,
Spin saves them from doom.
Astronomers have found stars that repeatedly skim past supermassive black holes, surviving each encounter while producing a new burst of light. In some systems, those flares mysteriously fade with every return. Researchers now think the key may be stars that were already spinning extremely fast…