Astronomers find nearest black hole to Earth
The nearest known black hole to Earth has been found by astronomers utilising the International Gemini Observatory, run by the NOIRLab of the NSF.
It has been confirmed that a dormant stellar-mass black hole exists in the Milky Way for the first time.
With only 1600 light-years between it and Earth, it is a fascinating subject for research to improve our knowledge of the development of binary systems.
The most extreme things in the universe are black holes. All huge galaxies presumably have supermassive versions of these unfathomably dense objects at their centres. There are an estimated 100 million stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way alone, which are significantly more prevalent and weigh five to one hundred times as much as the Sun.
In contrast to dormant black holes, which do not flash strongly in X-rays as they consume matter from a nearby star companion, only a small number have been confirmed thus far, and nearly all of these are “active.”
The closest black hole to Earth has been named Gaia BH1 by astronomers using the Gemini North telescope on the island of Hawaii, one of the twin telescopes of the International Gemini Observatory, which is run by NSF’s NOIRLab. It is three times closer to Earth than the previous record-holder, an X-ray binary in the constellation of Monoceros.
Astronomers find nearest black hole to Earth
This dormant black hole is about 10 times as massive as the Sun and is situated about 1600 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. Exquisite studies of the motion of the black hole’s partner, a star similar to the Sun that orbits the black hole at around the same distance as the Earth orbits the Sun, allowed for the new finding.
BREAKING 🚨: Astronomers have found the closest known black hole to Earth, just 1,600 light-years away pic.twitter.com/MdWJvD5fKs
— Latest in space (@latestinspace) November 6, 2022
