Question: If binary stars enter a black hole, is it possible for one of the stars to escape the black hole while the other one is sucked in (sling shot effect)

David Robertson answered on 23 Jun 2016:

Once something enters a black hole there is no way back, so if your both of your binary stars went into the black hole then they are gone. However you are right that you could get a sling shot effect if when the binary got close to the black hole only one of the stars went in. If the stars get the timing right then tone star could fall in and the other be shot off at high speed.

Astronomers see some stars moving much faster than they expect them to. They don’t know why, but your “sling shot” effect is one of the possible explanations.