HomeSpace & AstronomyRecord-breaking discovery of black hole closer to Earth

Record-breaking discovery of black hole closer to Earth

Scientists have discovered a small black hole lurking next to a star in the constellation Ophiuchus about 1,600 light-years away, the closest known black hole to Earth, named Gaia BH1.

Black holes are the densest objects in the universe, whether they are ultra-small stellar black holes hiding in any dark corner, or supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies.

They all have such strong gravitational fields that even the fastest photons cannot escape the event horizon.

There is a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, and scientists believe that there are at least 100 million stellar black holes in the Milky Way.

It’s just that they are very quiet, low-key and isolated, and if the black hole is not actively feeding (that is, in a dormant state), they are basically integrated with their surroundings and difficult to find.

Previously, scientists had discovered a 270-day microlensing event “MOA-2011-BLG-191/OGLE-2011-BLG-0462”.

It could be a stellar black hole about 7.1 times the mass of the sun blocking the way of distant light, 5,150 light-years away from Earth.

Recently, scientists analyzed data from the Gemini Northern Telescope and the Gaia satellite, and further discovered that a black hole named Gaia BH1 is lurking around a star.

The former is only 10 times the mass of the sun and is the closest small black hole known to Earth, only about 1,560 light-years away.

There have also been many previous studies claiming to have discovered systems in which black holes and stars orbit each other, but almost all of them have been dismissed by subsequent observations.

The study strongly confirms the discovery of a binary system containing a star and a dormant black hole.

Although the standard binary system evolution model cannot explain Gaia BH1, astronomers need to further examine how the system formed.

And how many dormant black holes the universe might have left waiting to be poached.

SOURCESpace
Mehmet S. Kaya
Mehmet S. Kayahttps://teknonel.com
Mehmet is one of the administrator of Teknonel. As a software developer, he loves to share his knowledge in related topics. He is highly familiar with the editorial process from the inception of an article idea, through the iterative process, publishing, and performance analysis as well as product reviews.

Follow us on Social Media!

12FansLike
15,848FollowersFollow
13FollowersFollow
676SubscribersSubscribe

Related Articles

The night sky is full of black holes instead of stars

This is a seemingly ordinary starry sky photo (see the first picture), but it is a more special celestial body than luminous stars, that...

Truck-Sized Asteroid passed 3,600 kilometers closer than many satellites

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) stated that an asteroid the size of a truck passed over the southern tip of South America...

NASA captures unusual close glimpse of black hole devouring a star

A rogue star recently eaten by a black hole may help scientists understand more complex black hole feeding.NASA's multiple telescopes recently observed a massive...

The Most Important space exploration Missions to watch in 2023

Following this year's milestones such as the launch of the Webb Space Telescope for scientific observation, the completion of China's Tiangong space station, and...

Explore More Articles

Domain Name Definition, Uses and Importance-min

Domain Name: Definition, Uses and Importance

0
A domain name consists of a name (brand, company, family name, etc.) and an extension. The latter can be a geographical suffix of two...
Best Artificial Intelligence Altcoin Projects-min

4 Best Artificial Intelligence Altcoin Projects

0
Artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrencies are two booming technologies that could revolutionize the way we think about finance. In this article, we explore the...
The world first manned UFO was tested in Shenzhen-min

The world’s first manned “UFO” was tested in Shenzhen

0
Many companies are currently developing pure electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles, but this Chinese company had a sudden idea to create this "flying...
Best Trailer mods in Euro Truck Simulator 2 - ETS 2-min

4 Best Trailer mods in Euro Truck Simulator 2

0
Truck trailers, also known as semi-trailers or simply trailers, are unpowered vehicles designed to be towed by trucks or other large vehicles. They are...