- Scientists have identified a hyper-fast star named S301 in the Milky Way.
- According to a study published in Nature on August 19, 2026, S301 ranks among the fastest stars ever observed in a stable orbit.
- Its significance lies not only in its speed but also in its extraordinary orbit, which takes it extremely close to Sagittarius A—the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.
- The study reveals that S301 reaches a peak speed of approximately 15,500 miles per second (about 25,000 kilometers per second).
- This is roughly 8 percent of the speed of light. The star travels in a highly elliptical orbit and takes about 8.7 years to complete one revolution.
- At the closest point of its orbit, S301 comes within approximately 12 astronomical units—or about 1.8 billion kilometers—of Sagittarius A. The mass of Sagittarius A is estimated to be about 4.3 million times that of the Sun.
- It is this extraordinary speed and its orbit close to the black hole that make S301 significant to scientists.
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