This Star Is Racing Around the Milky Way’s Black Hole at 8% the Speed of Light

Astronomers have identified S301, a fast-moving star orbiting the Milky Way’s central black hole, Sag A*, at extreme speed.

The Sun-like star completes an 8.7-year orbit, comes within about 140 black-hole radii, and moves at more than 8% of light speed.

Its tight path produces measurable relativistic effects such as orbital precession and gravitational redshift, offering a rare test of general relativity.

Future telescopes like the Giant Magellan Telescope could use S301 to probe black hole spin and even subtler gravity effects.