This Runaway Star Penetrates Space at More Than 160,000 Kilometers Per Hour
Not all stars enjoy just wandering around, orbiting the galactic center with all the other stars. Some stars go rogue, crossing the Milky Way with significant force. It is a runaway star, and we can trace its trajectory to understand the violent events that could occur in the Universe. One such star, and one of the more famous ones, is Zeta Ophiuchi. Located about 440 light-years from Earth in the equatorial constellation Ophiuchus, it is also one of the strangest stars in the sky. Not only is it incredibly fast, at about 30 to 40 kilometers (roughly 20 to 25 miles) per second, but it’s a strange type of star to see roaring in space. Zeta Ophiuchi is the main sequence star; that is, one that still combines hydrogen into helium in its core. And it’s a hot, massive O-type star: about 20 times the mass of the Sun, glowing blue with intense heat. Such stars also have relatively short lives; Zeta Ophiuchi is about half way past the main sequence’s projected age of 8 million years. Tha