Astronomers spot the closest, fastest star ever seen orbiting our galaxy's monster black hole
A star is whipping around the Milky Way's central black hole incredibly fast, setting a record for the tightest orbit ever observed
Astronomers have discovered the closest and fastest star ever observed orbiting Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. The star, named S301, completes its orbit every 8.7 years and passes by the black hole at roughly 55 million mph, which is about 8% the speed of light. The discovery, reported in the journal Nature on August 19, was made using the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile.
The star's tight orbit allows researchers to measure its spin rate in about a decade. Scientists believe S301 might have been the remnant of a double star that was torn apart by the black hole's gravity. The star's orbit is revealing effects of Einstein's theory of general relativity, such as the precession of its elliptical shape.
Within the next ten years, measurements of the black hole's spin could be made with high confidence using a decade of observations of S301.
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