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Astronomers have actually found the closest, fastest star ever seen orbiting Sagittarius A * (Sgr A *), the 4.3 million-solar-mass great void at the heart of our galaxy. The faint star, called S301, finishes a lap every 8.7 years and skims past the great void at approximately 55 million miles per hour (90 million km/h)– about 8% the speed of light. Its orbit is so tight that, within about a years, scientists need to have the ability to determine its spin rate. The discovery was reported Aug. 19 in the journal Nature

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