Constellation Virgo Declination +12° 50′ 58.61″ | Right ascension 12 30 54.70 Distance 54 Mly (16.5 Mpc ) | |
Metallicity Other designations HVGC-1, H70848, M87 H70848 | ||
HVGC-1 is the first discovered hypervelocity globular cluster. Discovered in 2014, it was found escaping the supergiant elliptical galaxy Messier 87, in the Virgo Cluster. It is one of thousands of globular clusters found in M87. It is the first hypervelocity star cluster so far discovered. The globular is located at decimal degrees (RA,DEC) (187.72791°,+12.68295°).
Properties
The object was observed to have an outlier velocity, ending with a determined radial velocity of 2993897400000000000♠−1026±13 km/s. In relation to M87, its velocity was determined to be 7003210000000000000♠2100–7006230000000000000♠2300 km/s. The cluster's velocity is so high that it will escape the Virgo Cluster as well.
The cluster's velocity is thought to originate by being ejected by the theorized twin supermassive black holes at the center of M87, when the black holes stripped the outer layers of HVGC-1 off, they also ejected the remaining core with greater than escape velocity.