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On the Origin of Hyper-Velocity Stars Near Sagittarius A*

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On the Origin of Hyper-Velocity Stars Near Sagittarius A*. / Greenyer, George; Coulton, Antonio; Smith, Josh et al.
In: Notices of Lancaster Astrophysics (NLUAstro), Vol. 2, 19.06.2020, p. 29-41.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal article

Harvard

Greenyer, G, Coulton, A, Smith, J, Jaques, R, Wright, N, Wright, K & Sobral, D 2020, 'On the Origin of Hyper-Velocity Stars Near Sagittarius A*', Notices of Lancaster Astrophysics (NLUAstro), vol. 2, pp. 29-41.

APA

Greenyer, G., Coulton, A., Smith, J., Jaques, R., Wright, N., Wright, K., & Sobral, D. (2020). On the Origin of Hyper-Velocity Stars Near Sagittarius A*. Notices of Lancaster Astrophysics (NLUAstro), 2, 29-41.

Vancouver

Greenyer G, Coulton A, Smith J, Jaques R, Wright N, Wright K et al. On the Origin of Hyper-Velocity Stars Near Sagittarius A*. Notices of Lancaster Astrophysics (NLUAstro). 2020 Jun 19;2:29-41.

Author

Greenyer, George ; Coulton, Antonio ; Smith, Josh et al. / On the Origin of Hyper-Velocity Stars Near Sagittarius A*. In: Notices of Lancaster Astrophysics (NLUAstro). 2020 ; Vol. 2. pp. 29-41.

Bibtex

@article{ac048afec0d1475c85a584fdc9e3f43f,
title = "On the Origin of Hyper-Velocity Stars Near Sagittarius A*",
abstract = "We present our investigation into the origins of high- and hyper-velocity stars around the Milky Way by exploring Gaia data. We begin by establishing a working set of criteria for a star to even be considered as a potential hyper-velocity star, which we defined chronologically as: if the uncertainty in parallax is acceptably low; if the star has above average total velocity for its home set; and finally if the star has a velocity that is mostly radial we investigate it further. We also discuss the complications encountered trying to identify candidate stars. Finally, we perform a time-reversing procedure to trace our final set of stars back to where they may have originated. We found a large number of candidate stars in our initial broad range search, but by enforcing stricter constraints we found a final sample of 1,158 potential hyper-velocity stars. This set displayed zero stars passing close enough to Sagittarius A* to have been thrown out or boosted to their current velocities. However, by selecting hyper-velocity stars with little proper motion in right ascension and declination, we discovered five stars which may have passed close enough to Sagittarius A* to have had their orbits significantly altered. A detailed analysis of the trajectories of those stars was performed, resulting in one star that may have originated from a binary system that had a close encounter with Sagittarius A*. We propose a potential binary partner in some of the known stars orbiting Sagittarius A* with similar periapsis.",
author = "George Greenyer and Antonio Coulton and Josh Smith and Rhys Jaques and Nathan Wright and Keenan Wright and David Sobral",
note = "Greenyer et al. (2020), NLUAstro, 2, 29",
year = "2020",
month = jun,
day = "19",
language = "English",
volume = "2",
pages = "29--41",
journal = "Notices of Lancaster Astrophysics (NLUAstro)",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - On the Origin of Hyper-Velocity Stars Near Sagittarius A*

AU - Greenyer, George

AU - Coulton, Antonio

AU - Smith, Josh

AU - Jaques, Rhys

AU - Wright, Nathan

AU - Wright, Keenan

AU - Sobral, David

N1 - Greenyer et al. (2020), NLUAstro, 2, 29

PY - 2020/6/19

Y1 - 2020/6/19

N2 - We present our investigation into the origins of high- and hyper-velocity stars around the Milky Way by exploring Gaia data. We begin by establishing a working set of criteria for a star to even be considered as a potential hyper-velocity star, which we defined chronologically as: if the uncertainty in parallax is acceptably low; if the star has above average total velocity for its home set; and finally if the star has a velocity that is mostly radial we investigate it further. We also discuss the complications encountered trying to identify candidate stars. Finally, we perform a time-reversing procedure to trace our final set of stars back to where they may have originated. We found a large number of candidate stars in our initial broad range search, but by enforcing stricter constraints we found a final sample of 1,158 potential hyper-velocity stars. This set displayed zero stars passing close enough to Sagittarius A* to have been thrown out or boosted to their current velocities. However, by selecting hyper-velocity stars with little proper motion in right ascension and declination, we discovered five stars which may have passed close enough to Sagittarius A* to have had their orbits significantly altered. A detailed analysis of the trajectories of those stars was performed, resulting in one star that may have originated from a binary system that had a close encounter with Sagittarius A*. We propose a potential binary partner in some of the known stars orbiting Sagittarius A* with similar periapsis.

AB - We present our investigation into the origins of high- and hyper-velocity stars around the Milky Way by exploring Gaia data. We begin by establishing a working set of criteria for a star to even be considered as a potential hyper-velocity star, which we defined chronologically as: if the uncertainty in parallax is acceptably low; if the star has above average total velocity for its home set; and finally if the star has a velocity that is mostly radial we investigate it further. We also discuss the complications encountered trying to identify candidate stars. Finally, we perform a time-reversing procedure to trace our final set of stars back to where they may have originated. We found a large number of candidate stars in our initial broad range search, but by enforcing stricter constraints we found a final sample of 1,158 potential hyper-velocity stars. This set displayed zero stars passing close enough to Sagittarius A* to have been thrown out or boosted to their current velocities. However, by selecting hyper-velocity stars with little proper motion in right ascension and declination, we discovered five stars which may have passed close enough to Sagittarius A* to have had their orbits significantly altered. A detailed analysis of the trajectories of those stars was performed, resulting in one star that may have originated from a binary system that had a close encounter with Sagittarius A*. We propose a potential binary partner in some of the known stars orbiting Sagittarius A* with similar periapsis.

M3 - Journal article

VL - 2

SP - 29

EP - 41

JO - Notices of Lancaster Astrophysics (NLUAstro)

JF - Notices of Lancaster Astrophysics (NLUAstro)

ER -