Runaway stars could influence the cosmos far past their home galaxies

Dozens of fugitive stars were caught fleeing a dense star cluster in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The swarm of speeding stars could mean that such runaways had a bigger influence on cosmic evolution than previously thought, astronomers report October 9 in Nature.

Massive stars are born in young clusters, packed so close together that they can jostle each other out of place. Sometimes, encounters between pairs of massive stars or neighboring supernova explosions can send a star zipping out of the cluster altogether, to seek its fortune in the wider galaxy and beyond.

.email-conversion { border: 1px solid #ffcccb; color: white; margin-top:

→ Continue reading at Science News

More from author

Related posts

Advertisment

Latest posts

The largest arthropod to ever live finally has a head 

Two newly discovered fossils are helping scientists wrap their heads around the anatomy of the largest arthropod of all time — a millipede that...

A Major GLP-1 Drug Shortage Is Over. Some Patients Aren’t Celebrating

Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that tirzepatide is no longer in shortage. It has been a long time coming: The...

Florida Hospitals and Nursing Homes Are Bracing for Hurricane Milton

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene tore through the American Southeast, hospitals and health care providers in Florida are preparing for yet another...