The Ejection and Detectability of High- and Hypervelocity Stars by Compact Object Binaries in Globular Clusters
- 1University of Toronto
- 2York University
Abstract
The dense cores of Milky Way globular clusters (GCs) play host to a variety of dynamical encounters between stellar objects, which can accelerate stars to velocities high enough to escape the GC. The most extreme examples of these encounters are interactions between single GC stars and binaries including at least one compact object. These interactions can result in ejection velocities of up to several hundred km s ⁻¹ , approaching or exceeding the escape velocity of the Galaxy itself. In order to study whether these interactions contribute to the Galactic population of hypervelocity stars (stars moving faster than the Galactic escape speed), we combine Monte Carlo N -body GC simulations, observations of Galactic GCs, and a particle spray code to generate realistic populations of stars that have escaped from Milky Way GCs following star + compact object binary (S+COB) interactions. We find that over the last 500 Myr, S+COB interactions have likely ejected ∼6300 stars from Galactic GCs, of which 83 9 − 67 + 70 have present-day velocities exceeding 500 km s ⁻¹ . Using mock photometric observations, we find that 29 0 − 23 + 28 ejected stars are detectable in Gaia Data Release 3; however, only 1 − 1 + 2 stars faster than 500 km s ⁻¹ are detectable. Even so, we show that observational prospects in the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time are more optimistic, and future detected fast extratidal GC stars will serve as a useful probe of GC cores.
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BibTeX
@article{evans2026ejection,
title = {{The Ejection and Detectability of High- and Hypervelocity Stars by Compact Object Binaries in Globular Clusters}},
author = {Fraser A. Evans and Steffani M. Grondin and Claire S. Ye and Jeremy J. Webb and Alexander Laroche and Jo Bovy},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aea21f},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea21f},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The Ejection and Detectability of High- and Hypervelocity Stars by Compact Object Binaries in Globular Clusters
AU - Fraser A. Evans
AU - Steffani M. Grondin
AU - Claire S. Ye
AU - Jeremy J. Webb
AU - Alexander Laroche
AU - Jo Bovy
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - The Astrophysical Journal
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aea21f
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea21f
AB - The dense cores of Milky Way globular clusters (GCs) play host to a variety of dynamical encounters between stellar objects, which can accelerate stars to velocities high enough to escape the GC. The most extreme examples of these encounters are interactions between single GC stars and binaries including at least one compact object. These interactions can result in ejection velocities of up to several hundred km s ⁻¹ , approaching or exceeding the escape velocity of the Galaxy itself. In order to study whether these interactions contribute to the Galactic population of hypervelocity stars (stars moving faster than the Galactic escape speed), we combine Monte Carlo N -body GC simulations, observations of Galactic GCs, and a particle spray code to generate realistic populations of stars that have escaped from Milky Way GCs following star + compact object binary (S+COB) interactions. We find that over the last 500 Myr, S+COB interactions have likely ejected ∼6300 stars from Galactic GCs, of which 83 9 − 67 + 70 have present-day velocities exceeding 500 km s ⁻¹ . Using mock photometric observations, we find that 29 0 − 23 + 28 ejected stars are detectable in Gaia Data Release 3; however, only 1 − 1 + 2 stars faster than 500 km s ⁻¹ are detectable. Even so, we show that observational prospects in the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time are more optimistic, and future detected fast extratidal GC stars will serve as a useful probe of GC cores.
SN - 0004-637X
SN - 1538-4357
ER -