Buckle up for the cosmic speedsters in our galaxy! Hypervelocity stars race at mind-boggling speeds, born from gravitational assists, leaving luminous trails as celestial tire tracks. Witness their cosmic horsepower in the night sky! ๐๐
Transcript:
In the racetrack that is our galaxy, some stars become celestial speedsters, hurtling through space at mind-boggling velocities. Known as hypervelocity stars, theyโre like stellar Ferraris forcing other stars to eat their cosmic dust.
These hypervelocity stars can reach speeds of over a million miles an hour. That's Jacksonville to Seattle in nine seconds.
How do they get this turbo boost?
Well, these stellar speed demons are born from galactic gravitational assists.
See, most hypervelocity stars get their extra energy by being flung away from some gravitationally massive object, launching them at breakneck speeds never to look back.
And as they streak across space they even leave behind a luminous trailโlike celestial tire tracks for astronomers to learn more from, which is great because weโve only known about these stars for a couple of decades.
So next time you gaze up at the night sky, buckle up and remember that beyond the calm and steady flowing stars, hyper-velocity stars are flexing their cosmic horsepower.