Expert: Tom Whiting - 12/4/2006

Question
I would very much like to know the designation and approximate distance from earth of the star which is currently the farthest known star from Sol with a designation that is actually considered to be "in" the Milky Way Galaxy and not a nearby dwarf galaxy. Thank you!

Answer
Hi Chris,
Boy, that's a tough one...I really don't know.  I do remember
reading an article in Sky & Telescope Magazine in 1984
of that same title, the Milky Way's most distant star, but that
was 22 years ago.  (1984, Vol 67:4 page 316 according to
Google, but my minimal computer knowledge won't let me access those archives)!

In any case, it's tough because there is so much dust and
gas blocking our view of the plane of the Milky Way.....
but if I were to take an educated guess, I would guess that
the star in the middle of our Galaxy, at about 30,000 lightyears
distant, would be the most distant, named,  known, and a star, with accompanied central black hole, named Sagittarius A*,
or Sag A* for short  (pronounced Sag A-star).
For more information on it, see
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast29feb_1m.htm

In any case, we can't see Sag A*  in the visible light range because of the aforementioned dust and gas, but we can  observe it in the Radio, X-ray, and infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum.   Sorry, but that's the best I can do for you.
If there are any other more distant objects in the Milky Way
that are known (and properly named), then I am not aware
of it, or them.
Hope all this Helps...Hey, at least I can get you out there to about 30,000 light years,  and exactly at the center of the Milky Way,
Clear skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie, PA

PS...If you find a better, or more correct answer, I'd sure be
interested in knowing it too....E-mail me at
bwhiting@velocity.net
And I'll keep working on this question to see if I can find a
more distant, named, star, and send you a follow-up answer
if I find one.  Instinct tells me to check out some of those
"globular Clusters" that are now passing perpendicular, down through the plane of the Milky Way, such as M-56 in Lyra, M-71 in Sagitta, and perhaps M-79 in Lepus.....and see if any of those globular star clusters contain any named stars, although technically, those stars are not true members of the Milky Way Spiral disk, but rather old Type II globular cluster stars not in the plane of the Galaxy.

FOLLOW UP:
Of course, if you want to modify your question to include
a "cluster"  of named stars, and a spherical (gravitationally
influenced) Milky Way Galaxy, then perhaps you'd be
interested in globular cluster NGC 2419 in Lynx.  This
cluster is often spoken of as the "interglactic wanderer"
because of it's remote distance of nearly 300,000 light years
from us, just barely under the influence of our Galaxies'
gravitational pull.  NCG 2419 is actually farther from us
then the Magellanic Clouds, our 2 companion galaxies, but
in the opposite direction.
(NGC stands for New General Catalogue, and are the next
down in brightness from the famous Messier catalogue of
deep sky objects).
See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2419
or just Google.... NGC 2419 in Lynx.
Hope this helps you,
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie, PA