Star Hits the Hard Surface of a Supermassive Sphere

Star Impact 1

This is the first in a sequence of two artist's impressions that shows a huge, massive sphere in the center of a galaxy, rather than a supermassive black hole. Here a star moves towards and then smashes into the hard surface of the sphere, flinging out debris. The impact heats up the site of the collision. (Mark A. Garlick/CfA)