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S301 star discovered as fastest in Milky Way orbiting central black hole
Astronomers have discovered S301, the fastest star ever detected in the Milky Way. The star orbits Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, at speeds reaching approximately 25,000 kilometers per second, which is about 8 percent of the speed of light.
Using the GRAVITY+ instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, the international research team identified the star’s tight orbit. S301 completes a full revolution around the black hole every 8.7 years and reaches a proximity to the black hole comparable to Saturn’s distance from the Sun.
Scientists believe S301 was likely once part of a binary star system that was torn apart by the black hole’s intense gravity. This discovery provides a unique opportunity to study the fundamental properties of spacetime and may allow researchers to measure the rotation of Sagittarius A* over the next decade, testing Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
Entities
Atacama Desert · European Southern Observatory · European Southern Observatory · J0148-4214 · James Webb Space Telescope · Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics · Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics · Milky Way · Milky Way · Reinhard Genzel · S301 · Sagittarius A*
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 4 SOURCES] The discovery was made using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at the European Southern Observatory. www.deia.eus · www.diariodesevilla.es · www.noticiasdenavarra.com · www.lavanguardia.com
- [● 4 SOURCES] The star completes its orbit around Sagittarius A* in 8.7 years. www.deia.eus · www.diariodesevilla.es · www.noticiasdenavarra.com · www.lavanguardia.com
- [● 2 SOURCES] The star could be used to directly measure the rotation of the Sagittarius A* black hole. www.deia.eus · www.noticiasdenavarra.com
- [● 4 SOURCES] The star S301 reaches speeds of 25,000 km/s at its closest point to the black hole. www.deia.eus · www.diariodesevilla.es · www.noticiasdenavarra.com · www.lavanguardia.com
- [● 4 SOURCES] Sagittarius A* has a mass approximately four million times that of the Sun. www.deia.eus · www.diariodesevilla.es · www.noticiasdenavarra.com · www.lavanguardia.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] S301 travels at approximately 8% of the speed of light. www.deia.eus · www.noticiasdenavarra.com · www.lavanguardia.com
- [● 4 SOURCES] Astronomers have discovered S301, the fastest known star in the Milky Way. www.deia.eus · www.diariodesevilla.es · www.noticiasdenavarra.com · www.lavanguardia.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] S301 has a mass 1.5 times greater than the Sun. www.lavanguardia.com