Closest black hole to Earth discovered

The vastness of space still holds many secrets but scientists have uncovered one recently.

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Astronomers have found a black hole that is closest to Earth than any previously known and it is massive.

The black hole, found by using the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft, is 1,600 light-years away and is 10 times bigger than the sun, The Associated Press reported.

The black hole’s distance is three times closer to the Earth than previously discovered black holes.

The next closest one is about 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros, The New York Times reported.

The black hole’s size and location in the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer, were confirmed by the International Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and the findings were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the AP reported.

It was discovered when astronomers found a star nearly identical to our sun that was moving strangely. They calculated that it was being controlled by something invisible nearby and determined that a black hole of 10 solar masses was nearby. They called the black hole Gaia BH1, the Times reported.

The black hole is dormant, the Times reported. It is not pulling everything nearby into its gravitational pull. It is passively being fed by the currents of outer space.

There have been about 20 black holes in the Milky Way galaxy, The New York Times reported.

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