The fastest star ever

A team of researchers has observed the fastest moving star on record. In their article published in The astrophysical journal, the group describes their observation and study of stars spinning near the black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and what they observed.

Space scientists have known for some time that there is a black hole located near the center of the Milky Way galaxy (Sagittarius A *), and have speculated that there are rotating stars. very close to it – known as squeezars, they are believed to orbit so close to the black hole that they are accelerated at incredible speeds during parts of their orbits. In their work, the researchers studied a group of stars that exist near the black hole, each starting with the letter “S” to indicate their proximity to Sagittarius A *.

Previous research had identified a star called S2 as likely closest to Sagittarius A *, and at its closest to the black hole, it was moving at around 3% the speed of light. Then last year, researchers with this new effort found another star that was spinning closer to the black hole and therefore traveling even faster, at around 6.7% of the speed of light. Since that time, the team has continued to study fast-moving stars and found five more that appear to travel even faster: S4714, S4711, S4713 and S4715.

Among these, two stand out from the rest: S4714 and S4711. S4711 is a blue star with a shorter orbit than S2, suggesting that it might be the closest of all the stars in the black hole. And S4714 turned out to be the fastest of all – it has a longer orbit, but its orbit is elliptical, meaning it is elongated, which perhaps gives it time to pick up more speed at as it gets closer to the black hole – up to 24,000 kilometers per second, or about 8% of the speed of light. Researchers suggest that stars are good squeezar candidates, especially S4714 and. S4711.

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