Gaia BH1: Earth's Nearest Known Black Hole at 1,600 Light-Years

1 min read
Source: BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Gaia BH1: Earth's Nearest Known Black Hole at 1,600 Light-Years
Photo: BBC Sky at Night Magazine
TL;DR

Astronomers have identified Gaia BH1 as the closest known black hole to Earth (about 1,600 light-years away), detected through the Gaia mission by tracking a Sun-like star’s unusual motion around an unseen 10-solar-mass companion in a wide orbit—an arrangement that challenges standard binary evolution models and raises questions about how such systems form.

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