International Observatory GEMINI / NOIRLAB
Astronomers have detected the closest black hole to Earth, 1,600 light-years away, and the first discovery in the Milky Way of an inactive black hole in a star galaxy was launched.
This celestial body, called Gaia BH1, was discovered thanks to careful observations of the motion of a star orbiting it at a distance similar to that of the Earth and the Sun, according to the statement of NOIRLab, a US research center. In the field of astronomy, which operates the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii, with which observations were made.
While there are likely millions of stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way, very few have been discovered. In the cases in which they were discovered, this was due to interaction with a star in their surroundings.
Gaia BH1, which is 10 times the mass of the Sun, is a so-called inactive black hole, it does not feed on matter from its neighboring star, so it merges with its surroundings.
The results of the discovery were published in the scientific publication Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
One A black hole is a dense and dark object from which nothing escapes, not even light, due to a strong gravitational field, so its existence is inferred by interaction with other objects or matter..
- text: SIC Notícias, POSTAL’s partner television, with Lusa
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