Astronomers Discover Hundreds of High-Velocity Stars

"Within our galaxy, there are thousands of stars that orbit the center of the Milky Way at high velocities. On occasion, some of them pick up so much speed that they break free of our galaxy and become intergalactic objects. Because of the extreme dynamical and astrophysical processes involved, astronomers are most interested in studying these stars – especially those that are able to achieve escape velocity and leave our galaxy.

However, an international team of astronomers led from the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) recently announced the discovery of 591 high-velocity stars. Based on data provided by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and the ESA’s Gaia Observatory, they indicated that 43 of these stars are fast enough to escape the Milky Way someday.

The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series on Dec. 17th. The study was led by Dr. LI Yinbi, an NAOC astronomer, and included researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), the Institute for Advanced Study, the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the ExtantFuture Technology Co., the Institute of Statistical Mathematics in Tokyo, and multiple universities."

Read more at Universe Today.