Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Supermassive Black Hole Just outside the Milky Way
Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Supermassive Black Hole Just outside the Milky Way
www.scientificamerican.com Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Supermassive Black Hole Just outside the Milky Way
Some stars streaking through the Milky Way at millions of kilometers per hour probably trace back to a supermassive black hole in a neighboring galaxy
The study looked at hypervelocity stars, ones that are screaming through space at speeds far higher than stars around them. Some of these stars are moving so rapidly that they have reached galactic escape velocity; the Milky Way’s gravity can’t hold them. In the coming eons, they’ll flee the galaxy entirely. And we have good reason to believe these runaway stars were launched by SMBHs—but how?