Nearby High-speed Stars in Gaia DR2

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the nature of nearby (10–15 kpc) high-speed stars in the Gaia DR2 archive identified on the basis of parallax, proper motion and radial velocity. Together with a consideration of their kinematic, orbital, and photometric properties, we develop a novel strategy for evaluating whether high-speed stars are statistical outliers of the bound population or unbound stars capable of escaping the Galaxy. Out of roughly 1.5 million stars with radial velocities, proper motions, and 5σ parallaxes, we identify just over 100 high-speed stars. Of these, only two have a nearly 100% chance of being unbound, with an indication that they are not just bound outliers; both are likely hyper-runaway stars. The rest of the high-speed stars are likely statistical outliers. We use the sample of high-speed stars to demonstrate that radial velocity alone provides a poor discriminant of nearby, unbound stars. However, these stars are efficiently identified from the tangential velocity, using just parallax and proper motion. Within the full Gaia DR2 archive of stars with 5σ parallax and proper motion but no radial velocity, we identify a sample of 19 with speeds significantly larger than the local escape speed of the Milky Way based on tangential motion alone.