Mysterious Fast-Moving Object, An object of great mystery has been seen speeding through our galaxy at 1.6 million kilometers per hour (1 million miles per hour). This find is traveling so fast that it may probably depart the Milky Way entirely, leaving scientists perplexed as they try to identify it.
What is CWISE J1249?
The object, named CWISE J1249, is currently located 400 light-years away from Earth. Due to its massive size—approximately 30,000 times larger than our planet and 8% of the Sun’s mass—it’s highly unlikely to be an artificial probe. According to Dr. Darren Baskill, an astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex, this strange size classifies it as “somewhere between a star and a planet.”
Such fast-moving objects are extremely rare. Dr. Baskill says, “In our local neighborhood, only one or two stars out of every thousand are moving at such a speed.” “If this trajectory continues, J1249 may depart our galaxy in a matter of a few tens of millions of years—a mere blip in comparison to stars’ potentially billion-year lifespans.”
J1249 is traveling so quickly that, even though it is only traveling 0.001% the speed of light, it may be able to escape the Milky Way and enter interstellar space.
An Impressive Speed Comparison
In comparison, J1249 is traveling 2.6 times faster than the Parker Solar Probe, which broke the speed record during its June 2024 orbit of the Sun. The Parker Solar Probe is now the fastest space probe ever launched.
Citizen Scientists Make the Discovery
Mysterious Fast-Moving Object, Interestingly, this enigmatic object wasn’t found by professional astronomers, but by a group of citizen scientists volunteering for NASA’s Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project. The volunteers combed through images from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE) and NEOWISE missions to look for fascinating items. Three volunteers identified the faint, fast-moving object in the WISE data: Dan Caselden, Thomas P. Bickle, and Martin Kabatnik.
Reflecting on the discovery, Kabatnik remarked, “I can’t describe the level of excitement.” When I first saw how fast it was moving, I was convinced it must have been reported already.”
What Is This Mysterious Object?
A recent study awaiting peer review, to be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, confirmed the findings using ground-based telescopes. According to a study led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego, CWISE J1249 may be a brown dwarf, a celestial body larger than a planet but missing the mass necessary to support nuclear fusion, or a low-mass star.
A closer look at J1249’s composition showed an oddly low amount of iron and other elements, which may indicate that it is among the first stars in our galaxy to form.
Theories Behind Its High-Speed Journey
What may be causing this item to go at such high speeds? Two scenarios are suggested by researchers. According to one proposal, J1249 might be the remains of a double star system gone wrong. In this instance, the white dwarf partner may have burst in a supernova after drawing material from J1249 and propelling it into space.
Another possibility is that J1249 originated in a dense star cluster that was violently disrupted after encountering a pair of black holes.
Dr. Baskill offers another explanation: “One way to achieve such extreme speeds is through a gravitational slingshot effect—essentially falling towards a massive object, missing it, and then getting flung away.” This is a technique often used to accelerate space probes, and a similar gravitational interaction could have propelled J1249 to its current velocity.
The Ongoing Mystery
As scientists continue to study CWISE J1249, its exact nature and origin remain a mystery. Whether it’s a rare early star or the victim of a cosmic collision, this discovery adds another fascinating chapter to our understanding of the galaxy’s most enigmatic objects. For now, this speeding celestial body has researchers eagerly watching the skies and pondering the forces that set it on its remarkable journey.
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