Sagittarius A*

Sagittarius A* lives in the middle of our galaxy. He is the darkest being ever seen, and he can line up almost fifty of his grandsons- the stars- across his body; in fact, his potbelly is so large that people even call him supermassive behind his back. Don't tell him though. He may get offended. He satisfies his ravenous appetite by trying to clamp his massive jaws onto everything around him- whether it be stars, dust, or even light. If a star accidentally enters his extensive territory, he will roar to life and the star will become his dessert before it can jump away. Now, Sagittarius A* prefers to spend his days sleeping while waiting for his next meal, but that wasn't always the case.

When Sagittarius A* was a young (or younger) black hole- perhaps 13.6 billion years old instead of 13.7- he was active. By active, I mean that he burnt many calories by chewing up more and more of his smaller companions. Back then, stars used to venture into his territory, and they would be snatched by his sausage-like fingers and slipped into the pockets of his jeans. Because Sagittarius A* was a bit like Miss Havisham, he enjoyed watching stars run around him like cats chasing their tails. The stars would become so excited at the prospect of escaping Sagittarius A*'s grasp, that they would begin to glow and invite their friends to the party. Together, all the stars would create so much light that it would blind anyone around them. Their ecstasy could be seen from galaxies billions of light years away, and the party continued, as oblivious stars failed to notice that Sagittarius A* gently tugged their friends away from the party, sprinkled a little salt on them, and then devoured them. The party kept continuing until all the stars were no longer, and Sagittarius had swelled to an unbelievable size.

Now, Sagittarius waits in the center of our galaxy for a daring star cluster to tickle his toes once again. He's had a few appetizers here and there, but he's licking his lips now, eagerly awaiting his first meal in a long time. In fact, I hear there's a nebula heading his way...