A globular cluster toward M87 with a radial velocity < – 1000 km s{sup –1}: the first hypervelocity cluster
We report the discovery of an object near M87 in the Virgo Cluster with an extraordinary blueshift of –1025 km s{sup –1}, offset from the systemic velocity by >2300 km s{sup –1}. Evaluation of photometric and spectroscopic data provides strong evidence that this object is a distant massive globular cluster, which we call HVGC-1 in analogy to Galactic hypervelocity stars. We consider but disfavor more exotic interpretations, such as a system of stars bound to a recoiling black hole. The odds of observing an outlier as extreme as HVGC-1 in a virialized distribution of intracluster objects are small; it appears more likely that the cluster was (or is being) ejected from Virgo following a three-body interaction. The nature of the interaction is unclear, and could involve either a subhalo or a binary supermassive black hole at the center of M87.