The star called "S0-301" travels at a velocity of approximately 90 million kilometres per hour while orbiting "Sagittarius A*", the main black hole at the centre of the galaxy. It completes its elliptical orbit every 8.7 years.
The star's mass is approximately 50% greater than that of the Sun, whilst its luminosity is about five times that of the Sun. At its closest point, S0-301 reaches a distance of approximately 11.5 astronomical units from Sagittarius A*, making it the known star orbiting closest to this black hole.
Sagittarius A* has a mass equivalent to approximately four million times that of the Sun and is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth. Researchers have observed the star using the interferometer of the Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, with results published in the journal Nature.
Scientists believe that monitoring the effects of the black hole's enormous gravity on S0-301's orbit could provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the properties of Sagittarius A*, including measuring its rotation speed.
