Astronomers map fastest orbit so far of a star circling the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole

Using data gathered since 2023 by the GRAVITY instrument on the Very Large Telescope in Chile, astronomers have now mapped the orbit a star circling Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole, every 8.7 years that when it zips past on its closest approach is moving more than 15,500 miles per second, about 8% of the speed of