'A planet on the run': A record-breaking system speeds through the Milky Way
Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Runaway Planet
A blazing-fast star may be dragging a planet with it as it hurtles through the Milky Way. If it’s fast enough, this record-breaking system could one day escape our galaxy entirely.
Galactic Speedster
Traveling at 1.2 million mph, this mysterious duo is among the fastest exoplanet systems ever found. Scientists say it may be accelerating toward intergalactic space.
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Cosmic Slingshot
Using microlensing, astronomers spotted a distant object—either a star with a planet or a rogue planet with a moon—moving at speeds that challenge everything we know.
Fastest Exoplanet?
If confirmed, this would be the fastest star-planet system ever recorded. Racing at nearly twice the speed of our solar system, it could defy gravity and break free from the Milky Way.
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Rogue or Not?
Scientists are torn: is this a small star with a super-Neptune world, or a rogue planet dragging a moon? Either way, it's moving faster than most stars in the galaxy.
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A Microlensing Marvel
By analyzing how light bends around massive objects, astronomers detected this high-speed traveler. Now, they’re racing to confirm its true nature.
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Galactic Escape Plan
If its hidden velocity is high enough, this system could hit the Milky Way’s escape velocity, drifting into the void of intergalactic space millions of years from now.
Hunting the Invisible
If this is a rogue planet, it’s nearly impossible to see. But using data from Keck and Gaia, astronomers may soon confirm whether it’s part of a hypervelocity planetary system.
Roman to the Rescue
NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could uncover more of these fast-moving exoplanets, revealing how planetary systems can be ejected into deep space.