Astronomers discover fastest star orbiting Milky Way's black hole

Astronomers have identified the fastest star known to orbit the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Dubbed S301, this star hurtles through space at speeds reaching up to 25,000 kilometers per second, a velocity that allows it to complete a full orbit around Sagittarius A* in a mere 8.7 years.

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The special thing about this star is that it only needs 8.7 years to complete a full orbit.

This remarkable speed is not only a record for stars in our galactic center but also offers a unique scientific opportunity. "The special thing about this star is that it only needs 8.7 years to complete a full orbit," noted Felix Mang, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and lead author of the study. This orbital period is approximately 100,000 times the speed of a passenger jet and more than 8% of the speed of light.

Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's core, is about 4 million times the mass of the sun and located roughly 27,000 light-years away. While typically dormant due to a lack of nearby matter to consume, its immense gravity warps the fabric of spacetime. The star S301's close proximity, approaching within just 12 times the Earth-sun distance, makes it an ideal subject for study.

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With this star, we hope to be able to measure the rotation of the black hole within the next 10 years.

Researchers hope that by observing S301's orbit, they can measure the black hole's rotation within the next decade. This measurement would serve as a critical test of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, which posits that massive objects distort spacetime. The rotation of Sagittarius A* is expected to drag spacetime with it, subtly altering the orbits of surrounding stars, an effect that S301's close and rapid orbit should make observable.

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a crucial test of Einstein's theory.