An intergalactic star, also known as an intracluster star or a rogue star, is a star not gravitationally bound to any galaxy. Although a source of much discussion in the scientific community during the late 1990s, intergalactic stars are now generally thought to have originated in galaxies, like other stars, before being expelled as the result of either galaxies colliding or of a multiple-star system traveling too close to a supermassive black hole, which are found at the center of many galaxies.
Collectively, intergalactic stars are referred to as the intracluster stellar population, or IC population for short, in the scientific literature.[1]
- ^ Graham, M. L.; Sand, D. J.; Zaritsky, D.; Pritchet, C. J. (2 July 2015). "Confirmation of Hostless Type Ia Supernovae Using Hubble Space Telescope Imaging". The Astrophysical Journal. 807 (1): 83. arXiv:1505.03407. Bibcode:2015ApJ...807...83G. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/807/1/83. ISSN 1538-4357. S2CID 118555601.