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Published online 9 February 2005 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news050207-9

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Speeding star will escape Milky Way

Slingshot around a black hole breaks stellar speed record.

It's a hard life being the fastest star in the galactic suburbs. One minute you're waltzing around your companion, the next you're flung outwards by a black hole so fiercely that you're all set to be the first star to leave the Milky Way.

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