The Galactic Center Struggles to Form Massive Stars

Gas clouds in the Milky Way's Galactic Center contain copious amounts of star-forming gas. But for some reason, few massive stars form there, even though similar gas clouds elsewhere in the galaxy easily form massive stars. The clouds also form fewer stars overall. Are they a new type of molecular cloud?

Jun 11, 2025 - 20:30
 0
The Galactic Center Struggles to Form Massive Stars

A detailed infrared view of the Galactic Center region of our Milky Way Galaxy. Sgr B1 and B2, and Sgr C are the three star-forming regions studied in the research. For some reason, they struggle to form massive stars. Image Credit: J. De Buizer (SETI) / SOFIA / Spitzer / Herschel.

Gas clouds in the Milky Way's Galactic Center contain copious amounts of star-forming gas. But for some reason, few massive stars form there, even though similar gas clouds elsewhere in the galaxy easily form massive stars. The clouds also form fewer stars overall. Are they a new type of molecular cloud?