The Fastest Star in the Milky Way Will Test Relativity
Astronomers have discovered another S star, the population of stars that orbits the Milky Way's SMBH. This one is the fastest of them all, and also comes closest to the SMBH. It will let astronomers test relativity, especially the Lense-Thirring effect.
Astronomers have identified a new star, S301, which is the fastest yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This star, named after its location near the galaxy's supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), orbits the black hole at an incredible speed of about 25,000 kilometers per second. It completes an orbit around Sgr A* in just 8.7 years, making it an invaluable tool for testing the principles of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.
S301's proximity to the black hole allows researchers to measure the black hole's spin, which will be a significant test of Einstein's theory. This groundbreaking star was discovered after a multi-year detection campaign using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer's GRAVITY instrument, which tracked the star's position over several years.
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