Discovery of the “largest stellar black hole” in our galaxy

France – Astronomers have discovered a black hole in the Aquila constellation, just 1,924 light-years away from the solar system.

They said that the object called Gaia BH3, or BH3, is the largest stellar black hole discovered in the Milky Way, with a mass of 33 times the mass of the Sun, and the second closest black hole to our planet.

BH3 poses no threat at all, especially since its gravitational field is not stronger than that of a star of equivalent mass.

Astronomer Pasquale Panozzo, from the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, and the first author of this research paper, says: “No one expected to find a black hole with a massive mass lurking somewhere close to us, and it has not been discovered yet.”

Black holes are divided into different mass classes. There are massive holes whose mass can reach millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, and they are usually found in the centers of galaxies.

Smaller stellar black holes form from the collapse of stellar cores when massive stars go supernova. Its mass can reach about 65 times the mass of the Sun.

Estimates revealed that the number of stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way Galaxy reaches 100 million, but they are not easy to discover, especially since they do not emit any light.

There are several ways to detect dormant stellar-mass black holes, one of which does not involve the black hole itself, but rather any stars in companion orbits, close enough to be bound to the black hole by gravity.

This is what the Gaia spacecraft, which has been operating in space since 2013, achieved with its discovery of BH3 by mapping the three-dimensional positions and movements of stars in the Milky Way with the highest accuracy to date.

“We have taken the exceptional step of publishing this paper based on preliminary data before the upcoming Gaia release due to the unique nature of the discovery,” says astronomer Elisabetta Cavao of the National Center for Scientific Research.

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Source: ScienceAlert