In the massiveness of the vast, seemingly endless universe, almost everything is moving at brain-bending speeds; meteors flying at tens of thousands miles an hour, stars racing speeds of over 500,000 miles per hour. Then, after 20 years of observing and studying the sky with five telescopes, the researchers at University of Cologne and Masaryk University found a star faster than all of these objects, called S4716. Four of these five telescopes had to be were combined into one large telescope to allow even more accurate observations of this amazing star.
S4716 orbits a black hole at 18 million miles per hour (29 million kilometers per hour), or nearly 5,000 miles every second! That ridiculously high speed is much faster than the speed of sound, which is about 767 miles per hour, (1234.8 kilometers per hour) or 0.21313 miles per second.
“For a star to be in a stable orbit so close and fast in the vicinity of a super massive black hole was completely unexpected and marks the limit that can be observed with traditional telescopes,” said Dr Florian Peissker, lead author of the new study.
In fact, S4716 gets as close as only 100 astronomical units (AU) away from the black hole. One AU is approximately 92,955,807 miles, or 149,597,870 kilometers. This may seem as a long distance, as Earth is only 7,926 miles across, but in space, it’s actually not very far. To be honest, it’s hard to believe the star’s ultra fast speed can withstand the gravitational force of an entire black hole, let alone only 100 AU away. Even light is absorbed by that same force!
A black hole is a dying star that has been compressed inward by the pressure of its own weight. The pull of gravity from its center is so strong that even light can’t escape, which is why it looks black. It then basically becomes a giant “vacuum” sucking in stars, planets or anything that gets too close, a bit like when you pull the plug in the bath, and all the water, soap, and the other stuff that gets too close to the drain gets sucked in immediately.
People have always wanted to know about black holes and all of their power. The new discovery of this star will help boost our knowledge of both black holes and the universe.
Link:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657494743416x698916585050773800/Astronomersdiscover %27fastest%27 star in known universe – CBBC Newsround.pdfhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47868061
S4716 orbits a black hole at 18 million miles per hour (29 million kilometers per hour), or nearly 5,000 miles every second! That ridiculously high speed is much faster than the speed of sound, which is about 767 miles per hour, (1234.8 kilometers per hour) or 0.21313 miles per second.
“For a star to be in a stable orbit so close and fast in the vicinity of a super massive black hole was completely unexpected and marks the limit that can be observed with traditional telescopes,” said Dr Florian Peissker, lead author of the new study.
In fact, S4716 gets as close as only 100 astronomical units (AU) away from the black hole. One AU is approximately 92,955,807 miles, or 149,597,870 kilometers. This may seem as a long distance, as Earth is only 7,926 miles across, but in space, it’s actually not very far. To be honest, it’s hard to believe the star’s ultra fast speed can withstand the gravitational force of an entire black hole, let alone only 100 AU away. Even light is absorbed by that same force!
A black hole is a dying star that has been compressed inward by the pressure of its own weight. The pull of gravity from its center is so strong that even light can’t escape, which is why it looks black. It then basically becomes a giant “vacuum” sucking in stars, planets or anything that gets too close, a bit like when you pull the plug in the bath, and all the water, soap, and the other stuff that gets too close to the drain gets sucked in immediately.
People have always wanted to know about black holes and all of their power. The new discovery of this star will help boost our knowledge of both black holes and the universe.
Link:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657494743416x698916585050773800/Astronomersdiscover %27fastest%27 star in known universe – CBBC Newsround.pdfhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47868061
