Astronomers Now Understand Origins of Mysterious Runaway Star
by Rodrigo Flores, age 15
Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian center for astrophysics recently discovered a blue star that is running quickly through the galaxy came from the center of the Milky Way. Scientists now think this strange star began its journey about a million years ago.
Astronomers compared the star’s position against other galaxies visible through the Hubble Space Telescope. The powerful telescope observed 16 hypervelocity stars, all fast enough to escape the Milky Way. Of all of these stars, the blue star in the only one of which the one origin is understood.
Understanding the movement of these stars could expand our knowledge of dark matter. Its gravitational pull affects the trajectory of other stars, causing these stars to move out of their places.
[Source: The New York Times]