NASA Citizen Scientists Discover Object Zipping Through Space At 1 Million Miles Per Hour

In an exciting new discovery, citizen scientists from NASA's Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project have identified a hypervelocity object, CWISE J124909.08+362116.0, that is hurtling out of the Milky Way at about 1 million miles per hour.

This object is particularly intriguing because it has a mass similar to or less than that of a small star, marking it as the first of its kind to be found with such characteristics.

Photo Credit: Pexels

The object was spotted by longtime citizen scientists Martin Kabatnik, Thomas P. Bickle, and Dan Caselden using data from NASA's WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) mission.

Kabatnik expressed his excitement about the discovery, saying, "When I first saw how fast it was moving, I was convinced it must have been reported already."

Follow-up observations using ground-based telescopes confirmed that CWISE J1249 is indeed an unusual find.

It might be classified as a low-mass star, or if it lacks steady hydrogen fusion, it could be considered a brown dwarf.

This discovery is unique among the over 4,000 brown dwarfs identified by Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 volunteers, as none of the others are known to be exiting the galaxy.

Adding to its uniqueness, data from the W. M. Keck Observatory reveal that CWISE J1249 has a lower metallicity, indicating it may belong to one of the first generations of stars in our galaxy.

As for the cause of its incredible speed, one theory is that it originated in a binary system with a white dwarf that exploded as a supernova, propelling it outward.

Another possibility is that it was ejected from a globular cluster after a close encounter with a pair of black holes.

Kyle Kremer, an incoming assistant professor at UC San Diego's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, noted, "When a star encounters a black hole binary, the complex dynamics of this three-body interaction can toss that star right out of the globular cluster."

This discovery exemplifies the power of collaboration between volunteers, professionals, and students.

Kabatnik acknowledged the support from other citizen scientists like Melina Thévenot, who shared valuable search techniques, and Frank Kiwy, whose software was instrumental in the finding.

The study, led by Adam Burgasser of UC San Diego, also includes contributions from Hunter Brooks and Austin Rothermich, both of whom started their astronomy careers as citizen scientists.