Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Hypervelocity stars (HVSs), moving at 1,000 km/s, are being traced back to surprising origins in the Milky Way and beyond, sparking new questions in galactic science.
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New research led by Jiwon Han of Harvard suggests many HVSs originate not from the Milky Way’s center, but from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), challenging prior assumptions.
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Evidence points to a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the LMC ejecting stars into the Milky Way, reshaping our understanding of how HVSs are formed.
This phenomenon, where a binary star pair is disrupted by a black hole, ejects one star at extreme speeds. Simulations confirm the LMC’s SMBH as a likely source.
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ESA’s Gaia spacecraft enabled precise motion tracking of HVSs, revealing trajectories that align with the LMC’s SMBH, providing critical support for the new theory.
A dense star region near the Leo constellation aligns with the LMC’s ejections, further supporting the presence of a black hole hurling stars into the Milky Way.
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The study suggests smaller galaxies, like the LMC, may harbor SMBHs, challenging the assumption that only larger galaxies contain such entities.
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Researchers note that the motion of the LMC plays a role in ejecting HVSs, not just the black hole itself, adding complexity to galactic dynamics.
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Upcoming Gaia data releases promise to uncover more HVSs, providing the framework for refined models and deeper insights into galactic evolution and black hole behavior.