Astronomers from the European Space Agency (ESA) have just made a groundbreaking discovery: a star that’s breaking speed records, moving at a pace 20 times faster than Earth.
The star takes only 2.4 hours to complete one orbit. (Image: ESA)
The star in question is a red dwarf star. It orbits the cosmic black hole MAXI J1659-152, which is three times the mass of our Sun. This star weighs only one-fifth of our Sun’s mass and is positioned about one million kilometers from the black hole.
According to ESA, this star’s lighter mass compared to the black hole and its large orbit allow it to reach speeds of up to 2 million kilometers per hour. This sets a new record for the fastest star in the universe known to humans. With this velocity, it only takes 2.4 hours for the star to complete one orbit.
The previous record-holder was a star named Swift J1753.5–0127, which had a time of 3.2 hours for one orbit. In contrast, the black hole moves at a relatively “slower” speed of 150,000 km/h.
“This star is moving at a mind-boggling speed. It’s more than 20 times faster than Earth’s speed around the Sun,” revealed Erik Kuulkers, an astronomer from ESA.
It’s worth noting that both of these celestial objects are situated above the spiral arm of our galaxy. “In this position, the star could be ejected from the galaxy when the black hole’s activity erupts,” stated Kuulkers.
This star was initially discovered on September 25, 2010, but it’s only recently that scientists have accurately measured its staggering velocity using X-ray spectroscopy techniques.