Planets Hurtling Near the Speed of Light? It’s Possible

Planets Hurtling Near the Speed of Light? It’s Possible

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Scientists want to know if planets can form near the supermassive black hole at the core of the galaxy. If so, the black hole could fling them out into space at enormous speeds that, from our vantage point, could appear to approach the speed of light.

One way to answer the question, at least as it relates to planets: Monitor the Milky Way’s rejects – stars that the galaxy’s central black hole has kicked toward intergalactic space – for signs of planets. Hunting for more in the galaxy’s halo, where they are most obvious, then monitoring them for the signature of a planet’s transit across the star’s face, would help settle the question of whether the center of the galaxy is hospitable for planet formation,