Milky Way s fastest stars came from another galaxy

This handout infrared image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope released on March 31, 2016 shows the centre of the Milky Way, 27 000 light-years away from Earth. Using the infrared capabilities of Hubble, astronomers were able to peer through the dust which normally obscures the view of this interesting region. At the centre of this nuclear star cluster — and also in the centre of this image — the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole is located. / AFP PHOTO / ESA / - / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

‘Some Milky Way stars

are from another galaxy’

Astronomers have shown that the fastest-moving stars in the Milky Way, known as hypervelocity stars, are in fact runaways from a much smaller galaxy in orbit around our own. The stars escaped their original home when the explosion of one star in a binary system caused the other to fly off with such speed that it was able to escape gravity.IANS