Mysterious object flies through galaxy at 1.6 million km/h

Amateur researchers have found an unknown object flying through the Milky Way galaxy at tremendous speeds and likely leaving it.

FRANKFURT – The infinite expanse of the universe and the secrets our galaxy holds are not only a fascinating mystery for scientists around the world. But also for citizen volunteers working in the depths of space. A team of interested citizens who have no professional connection to the matter, including a man from Bavaria, have discovered a mysterious object. It is moving through the Milky Way at a speed of 1.6 million kilometers per hour. So fast that the object could escape the Milky Way’s gravity and fly into intergalactic space. NASA.

Citizens have spotted a mysterious object racing through the Milky Way galaxy at a speed of 1.6 million kilometers per hour.

These “citizen scientists” are like According to the US space agency's title, it is part of NASA's “Backyard World: Planet 9” project. As part of this project, this object was discovered with the help of ordinary scientists. This object is the first of its kind and has a mass similar to or smaller than that of a small star.

Images from NASA's WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) mission contributed to the discovery. The space agency explains that they mapped the sky in infrared light from 2009 to 2011, meaning they mapped it into a map.. Martin Kabatnik NurembergThomas B. Pickle and Dan Casselden, long-time participants in the Backyard World project, discovered the faint but fast object, called CWISE J124909.08+362116.0, in WISE images.

Bavarian man involved in discovery: 'I can't describe the excitement'

They are now co-authors of the team's study on the discovery. It is scheduled to be published in July 2024. Astrophysical Journal Letters Published. The study was led by Adam Burgasser, a member of the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 science team and a professor at the University of California, San Diego.

“I can't describe the excitement,” NASA quoted Kabatnik as saying. “When I first saw how fast it was moving, I was convinced it had to be reported.”

Many unique properties: The object has not only speed, but also mass.

However, the object is not only remarkable for its speed. Its low mass makes it difficult to classify as a celestial body. There is a possibility that it is a low-mass star. However, if the hydrogen in its core is not steadily melting, it could also be a brown dwarf. Brown dwarfs are neither planets nor stars, but rather a part of both, writes one of the authors of the book Max Planck Institute In a job. According to NASA, they are not rare, but as far as we know, they do not leave the galaxy.

Data from the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii show that the object contains much less iron and other metals than other stars and brown dwarfs. According to NASA, this unique feature suggests that it is very old and probably belongs to one of the first generations of stars in the Milky Way. Although this discovery is rare, there is another discovery related to the Milky Way. Scientists have found evidence that suggests there is another black hole in our galaxy.

The reason for its speed is still unclear, as scientists study the possibilities.

One hypothesis for why the object is moving so fast is that CWISE J1249 originally came from a binary star system with a white dwarf, NASA explains. This is said to have exploded as a supernova after taking in too much material from its companion. White dwarfs are formed by Max Planck Institute They are known as relatively small stars that represent the last stop in the evolution of low-mass stars.

“Another possibility is that it came from a closely associated star cluster called a globular cluster, and was blown away by a chance encounter with a pair of black holes,” NASA wrote. He wants to send an “artificial star” into Earth's orbit. Scientists will determine which of the two possibilities is more likely by studying the elemental composition of CWISE J1249.

There is another object in space emitting unusual signals that is not yet known. It is possible that there are other objects like this in the Milky Way. (majority)