At Milky Way's center, an ejection button? Evidence mounts that a few stars are getting kicked free of the galaxy's gravitational pull. But how?(USA)

From: The Christian Science Monitor | Date: January 31, 2006 | Copyright information

Byline: Peter N. Spotts Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

The Milky Way, it appears, has an ejection seat.

Evidence is mounting that certain stars get kicked free from the gravitational pull at the center of the galaxy - rocketing outward into intergalactic space at breakneck speeds.

The latest sighting of two such "hypervelocity stars" - bringing the grand total to five over the past year - suggests that these Milky Way escapees are not bizarre oddities. Rather, they give an indication of conditions and processes that exist at the center of the galaxy, a ...

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