Strange Superfast 'Cannonball' Star Likely Blasted from Supernova

A star with an unusual history is racing through the galaxy at breakneck speed — most likely blasted away by a supernova and carrying traces of the exploded star. Kathryn Plant, a senior at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), presented the new observations earlier this month at the American Astronomical Society's 227th meeting in Kissimee, Florida. "You're looking at this very, very, very rare star that's moving at cannonball velocity," study co-author Bruce Margon, an astrono