A vibrant online astronomy community created by PhD students highlights new research and advice for professional growth.
Among the founders and contributors of Astrobites are, from left, Aaron Bray (G2), Elisabeth Newton (G2), Nathan Sanders (G2), Joshua Suresh (G2), Christopher Faesi (G1), and Courtney Dressing (G2), here pictured on their home turf, the observatory at 60 Garden Street.
Cambridge, MA - Seven years ago, astronomers boggled when they found the first runaway star flying out of our Galaxy at a speed of 1.5 million miles per hour. The discovery intrigued theorists, who wondered: If a star can get tossed outward at such an extreme velocity, could the same thing happen to planets?
New research shows that the answer is yes. Not only do runaway planets exist, but some of them zoom through space at a few percent of the speed of light - up to 30 million miles per hour.
