S62, the fastest known star in the universe with mind-blowing speed of 24,000 kilometers per second (nearly 8% the speed of light)
There’s a star racing through the heart of our galaxy so fast, it’s not just defying expectations—it’s bending time itself.
Meet S62, the fastest known star in the universe. Nestled near the center of the Milky Way, it orbits the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at a mind-blowing speed of 24,000 kilometers per second—that’s over 53 million miles per hour, or nearly 8% the speed of light.
This isn’t just high-speed space travel. At that velocity, time actually slows down for S62, thanks to the laws of Einstein’s general relativity. Imagine this: one hour for S62 near the black hole equals about 100 minutes on Earth. It’s real-life time dilation, happening not in theory, but in the cosmos above us.
S62 completes a full orbit around Sagittarius A* every 9.9 years, but its journey is far from simple. Unlike Earth’s nearly circular path around the Sun, S62 moves in a highly eccentric orbit that precesses by about 10 degrees with every revolution. This creates a spiral-like pattern—an intricate cosmic spirograph—tracing the very edges of space-time’s curvature.
To grasp its behavior, think of Mercury’s orbital wobble, once a mystery until Einstein explained it. Now imagine that same wobble, magnified and played out on a galactic stage near a black hole.
S62 isn’t just a star—it’s a living experiment in the extremes of gravity, motion, and time. A vivid reminder that our universe holds wonders far beyond the reach of Newton’s apple.
Whether you’re into physics, astronomy, or the poetry of the stars, this one deserves your awe.
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