Closest Known Black Hole to Earth Discovered

By Isabelle Parker

(Image from International Gemini Observatory/ NOIRLab/ NSF/ AURA/ J. da Silva/ Spaceengine/ M. Zamani)

Astronomers say they have found the closest black hole to Earth, a dormant entity just 1,600 light years away from our planet.

The behemoth has been named Gaia BH1, and is the closest known black hole to Earth. It was found using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. According to Big Think, Gaia BH1 was detected when scientists looked at its effects on a second star in its planetary system. The star was seen 'jiggling' as if affected by another star- but one that researchers couldn't see.

Gaia BH1 is orbited by a sun- like star at around the same distance as Earth is from the Sun. It is three times closer than the previous record holder, and around ten times larger than the Sun.

The behemoth raises many questions about the way the system was formed, says Forbes. Gaia BH1 should have swelled into a supergiant in its early life as a star, and gone on to swallow its companion star.

"It is interesting that this system is not easily accommodated by standard binary evolution models,” astrophysicist Kareem El-Badry says. “It poses many questions about how this binary system was formed, as well as how many of these dormant black holes there are out there.”