I think it's known that while zooming on a object while clicking it, or anything similar can cause a screen freeze but the mouse is still movable and the game still is working. I have had this happen and its repeatable for me. I've actually memorized the menu layout so I can shut down the game regardless of the screen freeze. 
While having this happen over and over without fail, I noticed that not only is it for ships that you click on, but all objects such as black holes. Knowing now that I don't have to click on the object for this to happen, and the label for the object in question always becoming visible 1/2 second before the freeze and stays visible regardless if my mouse is over it, leads me to believe that the label appearing is the culprit! I don't know how exactly but I have a hunch its worth looking into, maybe some load order or display sizing gets mixed up while zooming IDK but I hope it helps fix this if it hasn't been fixed internally already. 
please tell me if I'm wrong or right when you can!
DARCA. 