Astronomers have discovered a new black hole described as the closest to Earth, “only” 1,600 light-years from the blue planet, according to a study presented to the Royal Astronomical Society reported by The Associated Press.
The research points to a black hole ten times more massive than the Sun. It could be detected by observing the movement of its “companion star”, it is orbiting around the black hole at about the same distance as the Earth from the Sun.
Gaia BH1
The black hole was initially identified using the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite, Kareem El-Badry of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told The Associated Press. Kareem El-Badry and his team also confirmed their discovery with the Hawaii-based Geminy Observatory.
Researchers don’t know at this stage how the binary star system, made up of the black hole and its “companion star,” formed in the Milky Way. Baptized Gaia BH1, it is located in the Ophiuchus constellation also called Serpentarius.
Source: BFM TV
