A star is breaking speed records at 8% of light speed
In short: In the chaotic heart of our galaxy, a star is screaming through space at 15,000 miles per second. This extreme velocity isn't just a record; it's a laboratory for testing the very fabric of reality, where gravity is so intense that Newton's laws of physics begin to fail.
At the center of the Milky Way lies Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), a supermassive black hole with a mass of approximately 4 million suns. Because of its immense gravitational pull, hundreds of stars are trapped in high-velocity orbits. Among these, a group known as 'S stars' provides a unique window into extreme physics. While most stars in the galaxy follow the predictable rules of Newtonian gravity and Kepler's laws, those orbiting Sgr A* at close range enter a regime where Einstein's theory of general relativity is required to describe their motion accurately.
For years, the star S2 was the primary subject of study, notably for its 16-year orbit and its 2018 close approach, which allowed scientists to observe gravitational redshift—the stretching of light as it climbs out of a gravitational well. However, new observations have identified even more extreme contenders. The star S62, discovered by a team led by Florian Peissker, orbits the black hole every 10 years and reaches speeds of more than 8% of the speed of light (roughly 24,000 km/second) at its closest approach. Even faster is the star S4714, which has been identified as the fastest star ever detected.
These discoveries are more than just speed records; they allow astronomers to probe 'squeezars'—theoretical stars squeezed by tidal forces so close to the black hole that they are distorted by gravity. By tracking these ultra-fast stars using the ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile and near-infrared data from SINFONI, scientists can test the accuracy of our current understanding of black holes and the behavior of matter in the most violent environments in the universe.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: This Star Traveling at 8% the Speed of Light Breaks All Records
- Also: The fastest star ever seen is moving at 8% the speed of light | Space
- Also: Fastest star ever seen is moving at 8% the speed of light
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