Scientists spot a black hole 1,000 light-years away; termed 'closest one to Earth'

Scientists have recently found a black hole which is possibly the nearest one from the Earth. It is nearly 1000 light-years away. The new research was published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics science journal on 6th May 2020.

Also read: Earth Inching Closer To Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole At 7kms: Study

Details about the new black hole and its finding

According to Science News, the Milky Way may probably have 100 million to a billion black holes. The masses of these black holes may range from 100 times more than the sun. But, often these black holes remain invisible in space.

Thomas Rivinus, astrophysics of the European Southern Observatory in Santiago, Chile, said to Science News in an interview that the black holes are often invisible and they are companions that remain hidden.

Also read: NASA Shares Visual Of Stellar-mass Black Hole's 'superluminal Ejection' In Space

The few black holes which were discovered from the Earth were violent, interacting violently with their nearby environment. These black holes in the space were seen gobbling gas from a nearby star and heating the gas till the heated gas emitted X-Ray.

Also read: Earth Has Two 'mini Moons' And The Second Has Been Orbiting Us For Nearly 3 Years

According to the portal, the nearest black hole discovered by NASA was 3200 light-years away. It is named V616 Mon and was seen emitting X-Rays. But, scientists from NASA have found a new black hole named HR 6819, which is newly discovered. It is 1000 light-years away from earth. It is not as violent as the previous and is comparatively stable. According to the research paper published on Astronomy & Astrophysics, this new black hole is not a single one. But has one star and a black hole. The star orbits the black hole every 40 days. This star is bigger than the sun and is also hotter in temperature. 

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The scientists theorized that there were four stars orbiting the black hole because of the large mass present around it. But, on close examination, it was found that there was only one star which is heavier and hotter. The star comes with nearly 68 times more mass than the sun.  Rivinus said to Science News in an interview that it was hidden because it was not a normal star. He also said that since it was invisible it was a black hole. He also added that this HR 6819 comes with many bright stars that can be easily seen by the naked eye from the southern hemisphere.

Also read: NASA's Hubble Telescope Captures Black Hole's 'shadow Beams' Spilling Out