Astronomy: Black hole discovered near Earth

A new black hole has been discovered in space – it is only 1600 light years away from Earth. Astronomers identified it based on the movement of its companion star.

Astronomers have discovered a so-called black hole in space that is closer to Earth than other known phenomena of this type. It is ten times more massive than the Sun and at 1,600 light-years from Earth, three times closer than the closest black hole ever identified, said Karim al-Badri of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

signaled by fellow star

Al-Badri said the nearby black hole was first identified by the European spacecraft Gaia. His team followed the trail with the International Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and confirmed the results. The black hole was discovered based on the motion of its companion star. It orbits the hole at the same distance as the Earth orbits the Sun.

It is not clear to researchers how the system formed in the Milky Way. It was named Gaia BH1 and is located in the constellation Ophiuchius – the German name for the Serpent Bearer.