The planet was discovered thanks to the efforts of 80 participants in a citizen science project called "Rear Worlds: Planet 9" and a team of astronomers from all over the United States
A newly discovered sub-bright L-type star is on an extraordinary journey through our galaxy.
The Sun orbits the Milky Way at 220 kilometers per second, but a faster star, J1249+36, was discovered moving at about 600 kilometers per second. The star was discovered by a citizen science project called Backworlds: Planet 9, and could leave the Milky Way.
A subdwarf star is a star that is in a special phase of its life, and is characterized by being paler than similar stars in the main series. The reason for this paleness is often a lack of heavy masses, which makes these stars extremely rare and ancient. Subluminous stars represent a special stage in the evolution of stars and are of high research value.
The movement of the sun in the galaxy
The Sun may appear stationary while the stars around it move, but it actually orbits the Milky Way at an impressive speed of about 220 kilometers per second—nearly 800 kilometers per hour. When a dim red star was discovered crossing the sky at considerable speed, scientists took notice.
Thanks to the efforts of a citizen science project called "Backworlds: Planet 9" and a team of astronomers from across the US, an extremely fast sub-star L has been discovered speeding through the Milky Way. The star, named CWISE J124909+362116.0 ("J1249+36"), has been discovered First by over 80,000 citizen science volunteers scanning data collected by the WISE mission of NASA for the past 14 years.
Velocity and composition analysis of the star
J1249+36 immediately stood out because of the speed at which it is moving, estimated at about 600 kilometers per second (2.1 million km/h). At this speed, the star can escape the Milky Way's gravity, making it an "ultra-fast" star.
To understand the nature of the star, Professor Adam Burgerser turned to the Keck Observatory in Mauneka, Hawaii, to measure its infrared spectrum. The data revealed that it was a rare bright L-like object.
Understanding the composition of J1249+36 was made possible thanks to new atmospheric models created by UCSD graduate Roman Gerasimov, who worked with UC LEADS researcher Efrain Alvarado.
What gave this star a kick?
The researchers focused on two possible scenarios to explain the unusual orbit of J1249+36. In the first scenario, the star was originally a low-mass companion of a white star that exploded as a supernova, releasing the star at high speed. In the second scenario, the star was originally a member of a globular star cluster, and a stellar kick caused it to fly out of the cluster.
To determine whether either scenario or another mechanism explains J1249+36's orbit, Burgerser said the team hopes to take a closer look at its elemental composition. Such a discovery would provide a new opportunity to learn about the history and dynamics of the Milky Way.
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