The discovery of a new black hole, called Gaia-BH3, is exciting the scientific community. Located “very close” to Earth, this sleeping giant weighs 33 times the mass of our Sun. Which makes it the most massive black hole ever detected in our galaxy.
THE black holes continue to captivate the popular and scientific imagination with their mystery and fundamental influence on the understanding of our universe. From the recent observation of one of these being formed shortly after the Big Bang, which could explain many mysteries of the universeto stars that seem to defy aging near supermassive black holes, these phenomena remain at the heart of astronomical research.
THE black hole Gaia-BH3, discovered by the European Gaia space telescope, is part of this quest for knowledge. By its proximity to Earth – 2000 light years away – it offers a unique window on the nature and evolution of these stellar beings. This new inhabitant of our galaxy is remarkable not only for its huge sizewith a mass equivalent to 33 times that of the Sun – what makes him the most massive ever identified in the Milky Way -, but also by how it was discovered.
On the same subject – Thanks to Einstein, AI will unravel the mysteries of galaxies
The proximity to Earth of this black hole is a real opportunity for observers.
Usually, black holes are found because they attract and swallow matter around them, which can make them shine intensely and reveal their presence. However, Gaia-BH3 was discovered in a different way. Instead of shining through the material it swallows, it was spotted through the particular movements of the star next to him. This method shows that even without seeing it directly or the lights of the matter it consumes, we can still know it is there thanks to gravitational impact that it has on its immediate environment.
George Seabrook, from the Gaia team at University College London, describes this discovery as reveal the hidden reality of our galaxy, similar to the film Matrix, where we begin to perceive an invisible world. This discovery demonstrates how Gaia-BH3 is crucial to understanding the many black holes that remain hidden in our galaxy with no luminous material around them to betray their presence.
Source: Astronomy & Astrophysics