The fastest star ever observed is moving at an impressive speed of 24,000 km / s. Scientists have discovered thataround the “supermassive black hole”, which lies at the center of our galaxy, orbiting stars were moving at high speed. A discovery that also allows researchers to test Einstein’s theory of relativity.
In a new study published on August 11, 2020, scientists say they’ve just discovered the most extreme objects around: the fastest stars that come closest to the edge of a supermassive black hole.
Indeed, this study conducted by researchers at the University of Cologne in Germany reported on their observations on a population of stars that astronomers called “S stars”. These stars move in the orbits of Sagittarius A * (Sgr A *), the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, our galaxy at a speed never before observed.
8% of the speed of light
Some of these stars gravitate so close to Sgr A * that they are difficult to detect. But thanks to the power of “Very Large Telescope“(VLT), scientists managed to identify five new ones.
One of them, called S4714, revolves around the black hole at a speed approaching 8% of the speed of light. This speed corresponds to approximately 24,000 km / s. A velocity that would allow it to make a complete tour of our Earth in just 1.5 seconds, indicates the scientific information site Futura.
Among the German team’s other observations of the star S4714, they also noted that it is approaching the “supermassive black hole” (it is currently only 1.9 billion kilometers from it).
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According to Futura Sciences, astronomers believe that S stars could result from the dislocation of binary systems. When disrupting a pair of stars, the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way could eject one star into space and capture the other in close orbit.
Scientists’ predictions further indicate that large numbers of even fainter stars are expected to move even closer to our central black hole, which new generations of telescopes could reveal, says the website. Forbes.
These S stars are also observed closely because they allow to test Einstein’s theory of relativity.
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The American online site also indicates that over the next decade, thanks to the observation of these S stars, astronomers will be able to test the theory of gravity like never before. If Einstein’s theory does not match the observations of scientists, it might even be “the start of the greatest scientific revolution physics has ever known“.
Astronomers are now impatiently awaiting the arrival of this new generation of telescopes, including the “Extremely Large Telescope” (ELT) which should be commissioned in Chile in 2025. More powerful than all the others, it should help to track down other S stars and to intensify research.
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