Using the Gaia space telescope, Spanish astrophysicists from the Institute of Space Sciences of the University of Barcelona have discovered more than a hundred massive stars ejected from our Milky Way galaxy into intergalactic space. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A).
The team compared the Gaia data with star catalogs that record young, bright stars of spectral types O and Be. Both types are short-lived, massive stars.
The researchers identified 417 O-type stars and 1,335 Be-type stars in both catalogs and telescope observations. Comparing information from different sources on the positions of celestial bodies, the team concluded that 106 O-type stars and 69 Be-type stars are moving away from the Milky Way today.
“A significant portion of massive stars are runaway stars. “These stars are moving at a significant speed relative to their surroundings,” explained the authors of the report.
Scientists accept that the total number of stars leaving our galaxy may be much higher, up to 10 million, but this remains only a hypothesis. Additionally, astrophysicists do not fully understand what mechanism launches the luminaries into intergalactic space.
Earlier astronomers I learnedIt will prevent the solar system from colliding with a wandering white dwarf within 29 thousand years.