ABSTRACT. The most commonly accepted explanation for the origin of hypervelocity stars in the halo of the Milky Way is that they are the result of tidal disruption of binaries by the massive black hole at the center of the Galaxy. We show that if this scenario is correct and if the original binary properties are similar to those in the local stellar neighborhood, then the hypervelocity stars should rotate with velocities measureably lower than those for field stars of similar spectral type. This may prove to be a more direct test of the model than trying to predict the position and velocity distributions.

Subject headings: Galaxy: center; Galaxy: kinematics and dynamics; scattering; stars: rotation

Print publication: Issue 2 (2007 December 20)
Received 2007 October 2, accepted for publication 2007 November 6
Published 2007 November 21