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Article: At Milky Way's center, an ejection button? Evidence mounts that a few stars are getting kicked free of the galaxy's gravitational pull. But how?(USA)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- January 31, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Peter N. Spotts Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
The Milky Way, it appears, has an ejection seat.
Evidence is mounting that certain stars get kicked free from the gravitational pull at the center of the galaxy - rocketing outward into intergalactic space at breakneck speeds.
The latest sighting of two such "hypervelocity stars" - bringing the grand total to five over the past year - suggests that these Milky Way escapees are not bizarre oddities. Rather, they give an indication of conditions and processes that exist at the center of the galaxy, a place that can be difficult for astronomers to see.
The discovery of ...