Astronomers have discovered the fastest known star in our galaxy, the Milky Way, orbiting the black hole at its centre. The star, named S301, was detected with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI) and reaches speeds of 25 000 km/s as it travels around the four-million-Solar-mass black hole. It comes closer to it than any other observed before, so close that it feels the effects of the black hole’s rotation.
Source: ESO · Original release
Related articles
Topic illustration · Milky Way panorama — ESO/S. Brunier · CC BYA Chartreuse White Dwarf Shows Some Stars Really Are Green
The stars in our galaxy come in a beautiful assortment of colors. We see supergiants such as Betelgeuse that have a warm red glow, and others like Rigel…
NASA/ESA/CSAWebb Captures This Golden Galaxy Cluster in All it’s Glory
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month features the brilliant golden galaxies belonging to the MACS J0454.1-0300 galaxy cluster.
NASA/ESA/P. Jefferies (STScl)The Flavor of Neutrinos Could Determine How a Large Star Dies
Neutrinos come in three different flavors. A new study finds that neutrino flavor could play a significant role in whether a dying star becomes a supernova or collapses…
Turn curiosity into your first observation
An account unlocks the full calendar, your observation journal, equipment setups and gallery.
Dodaj komentarz
Musisz się zalogować, aby móc dodać komentarz.