Exoplanet System May Be Racing Through the Galaxy at Record Speed, Scientists Discover

A newly identified exoplanet system is potentially breaking speed records, traveling at a staggering 1.2 million miles per hour (540 kilometers per second). This discovery suggests that a low-mass star, accompanied by a planet in orbit, is speeding through the Milky Way, with its velocity nearly doubling that of the solar system’s movement. If confirmed, it would mark the first known instance of a planet orbiting a hypervelocity star.

The system was detected using microlensing observations, which bend light from background stars, revealing two celestial bodies with a mass ratio of 2,300 to 1. Researchers used data from the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) project, Keck Observatory, and ESA’s Gaia satellite to further investigate its high-speed motion. This system, located about 24,000 light-years away in the galactic bulge, could eventually exceed the Milky Way’s escape velocity and enter intergalactic space.

Future research, including observations by NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, will help confirm the system’s nature and provide clearer insights into the behavior of fast-moving celestial objects.