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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Hannah Devlin science correspondent

Astronomers detect fastest known star in Milky Way

Several stars orbiting Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy
Several stars orbiting Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy Photograph: ESO and Digitized Sky Survey 2/Reuters

Astronomers have detected the fastest known star in the Milky Way, hurtling around the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy.

The star, called S301, travels at about 25,000km (15,500 miles) per second, 100,000 times faster than a commercial plane. It is also the closest known star to the Milky Way’s central black hole, Sagittarius A*, approaching it around the distance of Saturn to the Sun.

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