LAMOST spectra of LAMOST-HVS1 (top), LAMOST-HVS2 (middle) and LAMOST-HVS3 (bottom). The inset in each panel shows the enlarged normalized blue-arm spectrum. Credit: Huang et al., 2017.
A group of Chinese astronomers has detected 2 new unbound hypervelocity stars located over 70,000 light years away. The discovery could help scientists better understand the nature of these peculiar stars. Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) are rare objects with velocities so great that they exceed the escape velocity of the galaxy. Astronomers believe that they originate near the center of the Milky Way galaxy by dynamical interactions between binary stars and the central massive black hole. While ordinary stars have velocities around 100 km/s, the velocities of HVSs can reach even 1,000 km/s.
Although scientists e...
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