Brains Matter Episode 86 - Hypervelocity Stars

Have you heard of hypervelocity stars? These are amazingly fast stars. How fast? I talk to Dr Ross Church, from Monash University, who tells us all about them. Topics of discussion include:

What are hyper velocity stars?
How do they form?
The relationship between binary stars and hypervelocity stars
The interactions between supermassive black holes and binary stars
Are hypervelocity stars all basically the same?
Could these stars join other galaxies?
Can hypervelocity stars collide with other stars in the plane of the galaxy?
What would happen if a hypervelocity star was heading towards us? What would happen to the solar system?
How many hypervelocity stars have we observed? Are they common or uncommon?
How do we find hypervelocity stars?
How long do these stars live?
Do hypervelocity stars change the evolution of the galaxy at all?
What happens to the companion of the hypervelocity star?
Listen in and hear the answers to these questions.

Brains Matter is a podcast out of Australia, which features stories on science, curiosities and general knowledge. It also features interviews with various experts in science and other interesting areas.

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