Astronomers have long suspect that some star in the Milky way of life can be accelerated to such a speeding that they get away its gravitational pull . To happen thesehypervelocity stars , research worker used the European Space Agency ’s Gaia scope , which is map the velocity of over 7 million stars in the Milky Way .
As reported in theMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , the team was capable to receive roughly 20 hypervelocity candidates . Seven stars were trace back to the astronomic center but 13 , including the dissolute two , are actually coming from outside the Milky Way .
“ Rather than flying away from the Galactic centre , most of the high - velocity stars we spotted seem to be racing towards it , ” co - author Tommaso Marchetti , from Leiden University in the Netherlands , said in astatement . “ These could be stars from another galaxy , zooming right on through the Milky Way . ”
These intergalactic virtuoso might have uprise from one of the nearby astronomic fellow of the Milky Way , such as the Large Magellanic Cloud , or peradventure even somewhere further away . The headliner are much closer to us than these satellite galaxies so we can hit the books them in better point , unlock cue about the environments in which they were born . And the fact that they turn tail their galaxies tells us a lot .
“ Stars can be accelerated to high speed when they interact with a supermassive grim hole , ” supply co - author Professor Elena Maria Rossi , also at Leiden University . “ So the front of these stars might be a polarity of such black-market hole in nearby galaxies . But the stars may also have once been part of a binary system , toss away towards the Milky Way when their fellow traveler star burst forth as a supernova . Either fashion , studying them could tell us more about these sort of processes in nearby galaxies . ”
The two firm stars move at about 700 kilometer ( 430 mile ) per second , almost three times faster than the average whizz in the Milky Way . This enquiry would n’t have been possible without Gaia . The scope has createdthe most detailed map of the Milky Wayever made , showing the positions and coloring material of about 2 billion stars . It is also study the speed of stars , which is a very laborious outgrowth .
“ We eventually expect full 3D velocity measurements for up to 150 million maven , ” explained co - author Anthony Brown , chair of the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium Executive . “ This will help find hundreds or K of hypervelocity genius , understand their origin in much more detail , and use them to investigate the Galactic centre environs as well as the history of our Galaxy . "
Gaia has in truth gain its reputation as one of the most crucial tools of astronomy , both now and in decades to issue forth .
