NEW DISCOVERY – 2.2 million km per hour

American astronomers have discovered one of the fastest space objects in the Milky Way galaxy.

According to foreign media, the discovered space object is moving at a speed of 2.2 million km per hour. The object was formed as a result of a supernova explosion and could extend beyond the Milky Way galaxy. High-mass stars end their life cycles mainly with supernova explosions. After this event, the remains of a supernova in the form of cosmic nebula remain in space. However, the nucleus of an exploded star can eventually turn into either a very dense and small neutron star or a black hole. If a supernova explosion occurs in a certain way, a large amount of energy is generated, which can cause the neutron star to move at high speed in space.

The speed can be so high that a neutron star can separate from its home galaxy. It should be noted that some time ago, scientists proved that black holes can also go into intergalactic space. As for the discovered high-speed space object, it is a pulsar (a type of neutron star). These stars periodically emit impulses and rotate very fast. Scientists have discovered a pulsar moving at a speed of 2.2 million km per hour in space as a result of the observation of the remains of a supernova named G292.0 + 1.8. The fossil of the supernova is located 20,000 light-years from Earth.

However, according to reports, this object is not the fastest object in the Milky Way galaxy. The fastest moving star in the Milky Way galaxy is a star orbiting a high-mass black hole in the center of the galaxy. Thus, it moves at a speed of 24,000 km per second. Scientists have concluded that the newly discovered space object achieved such a high speed due to a certain supernova explosion. Although scientists say that the speed of the pulsar will decrease after some time, they believe that at present its speed may exceed 2.2 million km per hour. For comparison, the Earth moves around the Sun at a speed of 107,000 km per hour.