Citizen Scientists Identify Star on Course to Exit the Milky Way

A rare hypervelocity L subdwarf, J1249+36, discovered through a collaborative project, challenges astronomers to uncover its origins.

J1249+36 was identified by volunteers in the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project using NASA's WISE data.
The star moves at 600 km/s, fast enough to potentially escape the Milky Way's gravitational pull.
Two main theories suggest J1249+36 was either ejected by a supernova or a black hole binary in a globular cluster.
New atmospheric models helped confirm J1249+36 as an L subdwarf, one of the oldest and least massive stars.
Researchers aim to analyze the star's elemental composition to trace its origin.