Scientist Just Discovered the Closest Known Black Hole To Earth

As global virus outbreaks and homicides were not enough, scientists have made another global discovery to add to the stressful year of 2020.

Credit- astronomy.com

An astronomers team of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced a nearby black hole discovery in our galaxy on Wednesday. Scientists say that the black hole is about 1000 lightyears far from Earth, the closest discovery to our solar system. The black hole was discovered in Chile using ESO's La Sila Observatory.

While 1000 lightyears are considered incredibly far by Earth's standards, scientists say astronomically; they are close. So much so that the naked eye can view the two stars surrounding the black hole on a clear night in the southern hemisphere.

Read More Post Like This:

                                   Earth Inching Closer To Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole At 7kms: Study

In the study, astronomers said they formed upon a black hole while studying a double-star system they call HR 6819. While observing that system, they realized that a star was orbiting an invisible object every 40 days - the black hole.

The ESO team also said that it is the first black hole they have seen, which does not deal violently with its environment; unlike others, they swallow stars or explode. The team can measure a black hole based on the orbits of other stars and determine that it is four times the size of the Sun.

Scientists say the discovery of this "quiet, invisible" black hole will give them an idea of the other hidden black holes in the galaxy. Very few black holes have been found in our universe in the past, but ESO astronomers say this discovery is "the tip of an amazing iceberg."

"There must be hundreds of millions of black holes out there, but we know very little about them. Knowing what to look for, will put us in a better state to find them," said Thomas Rivinius, an ESO scientist who led the study.

Scientists believe there is a cluster of thousands of black holes about 25,000 lightyears away at the center of the milky way. Earlier this year, millions of lightyears away, a black hole explosion was detected, which caused a gap that could fit 15 milky way galaxies inside it.