The Galaxy’s Fastest Star Could Reveal the Secrets of a Supermassive Black Hole
Astronomers have identified a star, S301, that orbits the Milky Way's supermassive black hole at record-breaking speeds. This discovery provides a unique opportunity to study the gravitational forces and rotational properties of Sagittarius A*.
Why it matters
Understanding the behavior of stars near black holes helps scientists refine theories of general relativity and galactic evolution.
S301, as astronomers have named the star, reaches 25,000 kilometers per second (km/s) at its maximum speed and takes 8.7 years to complete one orbit around Sagittarius A*. (By comparison, the Sun orbits the center of the galaxy at about 230 km/s.) At its peak speed, S301 moves more than 100 times faster than our star, and reaches 8 percent of the speed of light.
The key to S301’s speed lies in how close it passes to the supermassive black hole. According to the European Southern Observatory (ESO), at its closest approach, the distance between the two is comparable to that between Saturn and the Sun.
The enormous gravitational pull of Sagittarius A* accelerates the star as it approaches the black hole. S301, however, does not fall directly into it, but instead follows an extremely elongated orbit around it.
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