STAR STRUCK

Astronomers Clock Star Zipping Through Milky Way at Whopping 2.5 Million MPH

Astronomers say it is one of the fastest stars they have ever seen.

Astronomers using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) have clocked a pulsar star careening through the Milky Way at nearly 2.5 million miles per hour. At that speed, they say the star could travel from the Earth to the moon in under six minutes. A pulsar is a type of neutron star that forms from a collapsed star that has gone through the supernova explosion that marks the end of its life. Neutron stars are then hurled into space by the force of the supernova explosion. Frank Schinzel with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory told Science Alert that it was one of the fastest stars they had ever clocked. “Thanks to its narrow dart-like tail and a fortuitous viewing angle, we can trace this pulsar straight back to its birthplace,” he said. “Further study of this object will help us better understand how these explosions are able to ‘kick’ neutron stars to such high speed.”

HOUSTON, WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM

NASA’s Space-Suit Drama Could Delay Our Trip to the Moon

David Axe