Jet interactions with a giant molecular cloud in the Galactic centre and ejection of hypervelocity stars

Abstract

The hypervelocity OB stars in the Milky Way Galaxy were ejected from the central regions some 10-100 million years ago. We argue that these stars, as well as many more abundant bound OB stars in the innermost few parsecs, were generated by the interactions of an AGN jet from the central black hole with a dense molecular cloud. Considerations of the associated energy and momentum injection have broader implications for the possible origin of the Fermi bubbles and for the enrichment of the intergalactic medium. © ESO 2012.