Astronomers have detected the fastest star ever observed in the Milky Way galaxy, hurtling around the supermassive black hole at its center at speeds of approximately 15,534 miles per second (25,000 kilometers per second). This velocity is roughly 100,000 times faster than that of a commercial airliner.
The star, designated S0-2, completes an orbit around the black hole in a mere 8.7 years, a significantly shorter period than previously recorded stars in close proximity to such a massive object. This rapid orbit is attributed to the intense gravitational pull of the black hole, which accelerates the star without pulling it in.
This discovery was made using data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert by a team led by astronomer Stefan Gillessen of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. Their findings were published in the journal Nature.
Scientists have identified hundreds of stars that orbit the Milky Way's central black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, and have mapped the paths of about 50 of them. The newly identified star is 10 times closer to the black hole than the previous record holder, making it more susceptible to the black hole's rotational effects.
Supermassive black holes are a common feature in the centers of most large galaxies. Studying stars like S0-2 provides a unique opportunity to investigate these enigmatic objects, including measuring the spin rate of the black hole itself. As telescope technology advances, allowing for the detection of fainter stars, it is possible that even faster stars await discovery.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said astronomer Tuan Do of the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study. "As we get fainter, there should be many more stars like this."