Israeli and German researchers have discovered how some of the universe's fastest stars achieve their incredible speeds, the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) said Sunday in a statement.

In the new study, published in Nature Astronomy, the researchers, using advanced 3D computer simulations, found that these hypervelocity stars, which are small, dense stellar remnants traveling over 2,000 km per second, are launched through explosive events called double detonations, Technion said.

The phenomenon occurs when two unusual stars orbit each other, with the explosion of the heavier star flinging the surviving piece of the lighter one into space at tremendous speed, it said.

The study explains the origin of hot, faint white dwarfs observed in the galaxy's outer regions, and sheds light on a rare type of supernova, known as faint Type Ia, which is important for measuring the expansion of the universe and understanding how elements are created in galaxies, it added.