MMT hypervelocity star survey. II.

Using a conservative estimate of Galactic escape velocity, our targeted spectroscopic survey has now identified 16 unbound HVSs as well as a comparable number of HVSs ejected on bound trajectories. A Galactic center origin for the HVSs is supported by their unbound velocities, the observed number of unbound stars, their stellar nature, their ejection time distribution, and their Galactic latitude and longitude distribution.

Other proposed origins for the unbound HVSs, such as runaway ejections from the disk or dwarf galaxy tidal debris, cannot be reconciled with the observations. An intriguing result is the spatial anisotropy of HVSs on the sky, which possibly reflects an anisotropic potential in the central 10-100pc region of the Galaxy. Further progress requires measurement of the spatial distribution of HVSs over the southern sky.