14 DAY TRIAL // A study published in today's issue of the journal Science announces the discovery of a star that appears to be moving through space at mind-boggling speed.
Long story short, astronomers say that this fiery celestial body is traveling at about 1,200 kilometers per second. In case anyone was wondering, that's about 745 miles per second.
Writing in the journal Science, astronomers explain that this star goes by the name of US 708. The celestial body likely owes its speed to a supernova explosion that sent it racing through the cosmos.
Thus, scientists suspect that US 708 was once part of a fairly tight binary system, i.e. a pair of stars orbiting a common point in space, Phys Org informs.
When its companion exploded in a supernova, the sheer force of the blast proved more than enough to send the celestial body on a joyride through space.
What's interesting is that, according to evidence at hand, it could be that US 708 itself triggered this cosmic explosion by transferring part of the helium included in its makeup to its companion.
Astronomers have until now determined the speed of hundreds of stars in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Apparently, US 708 is, for the time being at least, the absolute fastest of the bunch.