S55 (also known as S0–102) is a star that is located very close to the centre of the Milky Way, near the radio source Sagittarius A*, orbiting it with an orbital period of 12.8 years. Until 2019, when the star S62 became the new record holder, it was the star with the shortest known period orbiting the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.

Jul 19, 2021 · A supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, is surrounded by the S-Star Cluster, a small cluster of high-velocity stars. Through years of observation and measurement, scientists calculated the black hole’s mass and location.

S2, also known as S0–2, is a star in the star cluster close to the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), orbiting it with a period of 16.0518 years, a semi-major axis of about 970 au, and a pericenter distance of 17 light hours (18 Tm or 120 au) – an orbit with a period only about 30% longer than that of Jupiter around the Sun ...

S stars, S star, S-stars, or S-star may refer to: S-type star, a late-type giant star, a cool giant with approximately equal quantities of carbon and oxygen in its atmosphere; Stars around the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way galactic centre, associated with radio source Sagittarius A* S2 (star) S55 (star) or S0–102; S62 (star)

Dec 15, 2021 · This allowed them to find and track stars — called S2, S29, S38, and S55 — around Sagittarius A* with unparalleled depth and accuracy. Remarkably, they found a star, named S300, which had not been seen previously.

Dec 14, 2021 · Animated sequence of ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) images of stars around the Milky Way’s central black hole. This animation shows the orbits of the stars S29 and S55 as they move close to Sagittarius A* (center), the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way.

Feb 20, 2024 · Scientists captured the deepest images of the area surrounding the Milky Way's black hole, and discovered a new star orbiting around Sagittarius A*.

Dec 14, 2021 · The two stars, S29 and S55, both made their closest approach to Sgr A* in 2021, and that means their motion is maximized. In particular, S29 was seen to get within 13 billion kilometers of the black hole — only about 90 times the Earth-Sun distance — and screamed past it at a whopping 31 million kilometers per hour!

Dec 15, 2021 · VIDEO: This animation shows the orbits of the stars S29 and S55 as they move close to Sgr A* (centre), the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way.

One of the most studied stars is S2, a relatively bright star that also passes close by Sgr A*. As of 2020, S4714 is the current record holder of closest approach to Sagittarius A*, at about 12.6 astronomical units (1.88 × 10 9 km), almost as close as Saturn gets to the Sun, traveling at about 8% of the speed of light.