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The nearest black hole to Earth has been found by astronomers, and it is just 1,600 light-years away. Scientists revealed on Friday that this black hole is 10 times as large as the Sun and compared to the previous record-holder, it is three times closer.
According to NASA, a black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape. Because the substance is compressed into such a small area, the gravity is extremely intense. People cannot perceive black holes because no light can escape from them. They are undetectable. Specialized space telescopes aid in the discovery of black holes. The unique instruments can see how stars that are very near black holes behave differently from other stars.
The companion star, which circles the black hole at roughly the same distance as Earth orbits the Sun, was used to identify it.
Gaia, a satellite operated by the European Space Agency, was used to discover the black hole first, according to Kareem El-Badry of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
The International Gemini Observatory in Hawaii was contacted by El-Badry and his group to corroborate their findings, which were then reported in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
How the system developed in the Milky Way is a mystery to the experts. It has the designation Gaia BH1 and is found in the serpent-bearer constellation Ophiuchus.(WION)
