  We propose that there exists a class of transient sources, "squeezars", which
are stars caught in highly eccentric orbits around a massive (m<10^8 Mo) black
hole (MBH), whose atypically high luminosity (up to a significant fraction of
their Eddington luminosity) is powered by tidal interactions with the MBH.
Their existence follows from the presence of a mass sink, the MBH, in the
galactic center, which drives a flow of stars into nearly radial orbits to
replace those it has destroyed. We consider two limits for the stellar response
to tidal heating: surface heating with radiative cooling ("hot squeezars") and
bulk heating with adiabatic expansion ("cold squeezars"), and calculate the
evolution of the squeezar orbit, size, luminosity and effective temperature.
The squeezar formation rate is only ~0.05 that of tidal disruption flares, but
squeezar lifetimes are many orders of magnitude longer, and so future
observations of squeezars in nearby galaxies can probe the tidal process that
feeds MBHs and the effects of extreme tides on stars. The mean number of
squeezars orbiting the Galactic MBH is estimated at 0.1-1.
