# fast moving star



## RAXL (Jul 9, 2004)

Star is observed moving at 1.5M mph
GARCHING, Germany, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope have recorded a massive star moving at more than 1.5 million mph. 

Since stars are not born with such large velocities, its position suggests it was ejected from the Large Magellanic Cloud, perhaps by a massive black hole in the Milky Way's closest neighbor. 

"At such a speed, the star would go around the Earth in less than a minute," said Uli Heber, one of the scientists at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, and Britain's Center for Astrophysics Research at the University of Hertfordshire, who conducted the study. 

The hot massive star, named HE 0437-5439, was discovered far out in the halo of the Milky Way, towards the Doradus constellation. 

"This is a rather unusual place for such a star: massive stars are ordinarily found in the disc of the Milky Way", said Ralf Napiwotzki, another member of the team. "Our data ... confirm the star to be rather young and to have a chemical composition similar to our sun." 

The data are to be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. 

The Garching, Germany-based, ESO operates astronomical observatories in Chile.



1.5 MILLION MPH. That's pretty friggin' fast.


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## HibLaGrande (Sep 25, 2005)

wouldn't a black hole tend to eat suns rather than eject them? Or has the black hole reached critical mass to start the fusion proccess? hmmm I'll be up late tonight.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

I imagine it probably was near a blackhole, and the star slingshoted around it, causing extreme acceleration. Much the same as our own interplanetery probes use the planets' gravity to slingshot themselves futher out into space.


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