Telescope spies the fastest star in the Milky Way zipping around a black hole - WXXV News 25

Fastest star yet seen orbits black hole at 8% speed of light

Most stars drift gracefully along their galactic orbits, the constellations reforming only on unimaginable timescales. But some stars are in a rush, and astronomers have spotted their fastest yet: an otherwise unremarkable star, S301, orbiting a black hole at up to 8% the speed of light. — Read the rest The post Fastest star yet seen orbits black hole at 8% speed of light appeared first on Boing Boing.

Telescope spies the fastest star in the Milky Way zipping around a black hole

A telescope has spied the fastest known star in our galaxy, racing around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Telescope spies the fastest star in the Milky Way zipping around a black hole - WXXV News 25

By  ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN NEW YORK (AP) — A telescope has spied the fastest known star in our galaxy, racing around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The star is zipping around the black hole, reaching speeds of about 15,534 miles per second (25,000 kilometers per second). That’s 100,000 times faster than a commercial plane. “That star is really, extremely fast,” said astronomer Stefan Gillessen with the Max Planck Insti…

S301 Fastest Star: The Close Orbit Around Sagittarius A*

Astronomers have found a faint star taking an extraordinary route around the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The star, named S301, reaches about 25,000 kilometres per second—more than eight percent of the speed of light—and completes one orbit around Sagittarius A* in roughly 8.7 years. Its path is so close to […] The post A Star Racing Around the Milky Way’s Black Hole Could Reveal How It Spins appeared first on Curiosmos.