Discovery of WINERED-HVS1: A Metal-rich Hypervelocity Star Candidate Ejected from the Galactic Center

Abstract We report the discovery of a metal-rich red-giant star, WINERED-HVS1, which is a candidate for a hypervelocity star (HVS). Its past trajectory suggests that this star may have been ejected by the Galactic supermassive black hole (SMBH; Sgr A*), with a modest ejection velocity of at least 500 km s −1 . Since WINERED-HVS1 is gravitationally bound to the Milky Way and is not necessarily young, it is not an unambiguous HVS candidate from a kinematic perspective, unlike the previously confirmed A-type main-sequence HVS known as S5-HVS1. Therefore, the chemical characterization of this star is essential for understanding its origin. Through a spectroscopic follow-up observation with Magellan/WINERED, we determined its metallicity <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mo stretchy="false">[</mml:mo> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Fe</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">H</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">]</mml:mo> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.14</mml:mn> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>7</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.045</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.046</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> , as well as the abundances of Na, Mg, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Ni, and Sr. The high-metallicity value suggests that this star was ejected from the Galactic center and is unlikely to be a halo star with a radial orbit. The abundance pattern of this star—including the patterns of [ α /Fe], [Mg/Fe], [Si/Mg], and [Ca/Mg]—is consistent with that of the nuclear star cluster surrounding the SMBH, further supporting our view. This discovery opens a new window to look through the Galactic center environment without the hindrance of dust extinction, by using the HVSs moving in the halo region where dust extinction is minimal.