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Runaway star found

 A lonely young star has been discovered fleeing from the Milky Way galaxy at the most fantastic speeds ever seen. In another 80 million years, it could be entirely clear of the Milky Way and hurtling out into the vast and endless reaches of intergalactic space.

Runaway stars are not uncommon in our galaxy but this one is moving at more than 1.5 million mph.

How did the single star achieve such astonishing velocity? The stellar outcast had a companion once. The two — together known as a binary star — were rotating around each other, linked together like a couple twirling in a high-speed waltz. The two stars, in turn, were speeding together around the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy in an orbit about 1.5 billion miles out.

The black hole’s immensely powerful gravity drew one of the stars closer, while the speed of the other star — both around its companion and around the black hole — flung it away, like a rock from a slingshot. As the outcast sped off, the black hole gripped the other star ever tighter and forced it into a closer orbit.

As for the outcast star’s companion that was left behind, it was probably now flying in a closer and closer orbit around the black hole at the Milky Way’s center. Eventually, the black hole’s immense gravity probably will tear that orphan star apart "and swallow it."

posted by: kyawoo at 06:26 | link | comments |
astronomy

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