Science in a Minute 111419 Astronomers Spot Star Traveling at an Ultrafast Velocity

Astronomers spotted a star traveling through the Milky Way at an incredible speed of 6 million kilometers per hour. The star and its former companion wandered too close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. The giant black hole is said to have swallowed the smaller companion, but flung the main star outwards on its ultrafast journey. At its current speed the astronomers calculate the fast-moving star will exit the Milky Way in about 100 million years, never to return.