A star cluster that was thrown towards Earth at speeds of more than two million miles per hour was recently discovered by astronomers.
The cluster originated in the M87 galaxy and is expected to travel the voids between galaxies and drift "endlessly" through space, according to a news release issued by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Research was published in The Astrophysical Journal this week.
The cluster was recently named HVGC-1, which stands for hypervelocity globular cluster.
These types of clusters are groupings of "thousands of stars" inside a ball of a few dozen light-years across, according to the study.
"Astronomers have found runaway stars before, but this is the first time we've found a runaway star cluster," said lead author of the study Nelson Caldwell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
HVGC-1 was discovered by astronomers by using the MMT Telescope in Arizona. The astronomers spent several years studying the space around M87.
After studying the space around M87, a computer then calculated the speed of the cluster.
"We didn't expect to find anything moving that fast," said study co-author Jay Strader of Michigan State University.
Over 150 globular clusters can be found in the Milky Way Galaxy, while M87 galaxy holds "thousands," of clusters, according to the release.
HVGC-1 likely reached its current speed after passing through two black holes at the center of M87, which, acting like a slingshot, sent the cluster flying away.
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