This photo made with a long exposure and released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on Nov. 10, 2025, shows four lasers at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, each one launched from one of the four eight-meter telescopes on site in Taltal, Chile. (A. Berdeu/European Southern Observatory via AP)
\n\nNEW YORK (AP) — A telescope has spied the fastest known star in our galaxy, racing around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
\n\nThe star is zipping around the black hole, reaching speeds of about 15,534 miles per second (25,000 kilometers per second). That’s 100,000 times faster than a commercial plane.
\n\n“That star is really, extremely fast,” said astronomer Stefan Gillessen with the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.
\n\nThe newly discovered star also orbits the black hole at closer range than scientists have ever seen before, taking just 8.7 years to complete a revolution. It harnesses the black hole’s gravity to fly faster without falling in.
\n\nGillessen and colleagues uncovered the star in data collected by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Their findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
\n\nThere are several hundred stars that closely orbit this giant black…
Original source: https://apnews.com/business
