admin A group of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutions discovered a black hole located less than one thousand light-years away from Earth. The black hole is closer to our solar system than any other black hole ever discovered.
Astronomers report on May 6 in Astronomy & Astrophysics that this newly discovered dark neighbor is at least 4.2 times more massive than the sun and resides with two ordinary stars whose eccentric orbits revealed the presence of the black hole.
While studying what they believed to be a binary star system, or two stars orbiting a common center of mass, astronomers discovered a black hole. Observing the HR 6819 binary with the 2.2-meter MPG / ESO telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile as part of a larger study on double star systems.
When the researchers analyzed their observations, they were shocked to discover that a third object, a black hole, was hidden within the system.
Astronomers anticipate that the Milky Way contains between one hundred million and one billion black holes with masses ranging from a few to one hundred times that of the sun. However, the majority of black holes are invisible.
“An invisible object with a mass at least four times that of the Sun can only be a black hole,” stated European Southern Observatory astronomer Thomas Rivinius. Therefore, “this system contains the closest known black hole to Earth.”
Thomas Rivinius states, “If it’s lonely out there without a companion, you’ll never find one.”
Rivinius states, “We would have seen it if it were a typical star.” If it is not a normal star, the only other possibility is a black hole.
According to scientists, the HR 6819 is close enough and its stars are bright enough to be visible with the naked eye on a clear, dark night in the southern hemisphere.
The discovery may shed light on the peculiar LB-1 system in the Gemini constellation. Experts have speculated that this system consists of a star and an extremely massive black hole, a discovery that has garnered their attention.
Astronomer Marianne Heida of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) remarked, “We realized that another system, known as LB-1, may also be a triple,” though additional observations are necessary to confirm.
“LB-1 is a bit farther from Earth, but it’s still relatively close in astronomical terms, which suggests that there are likely many more of these systems. By locating and studying them, we can learn a great deal about the formation and evolution of these rare stars, which begin their lives with more than about eight times the mass of the Sun and end their lives with a supernova explosion that leaves a black hole.
