Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 16
Astronomers identified the largest stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way, with a mass 33 times that of the Sun, according to a study published on Tuesday.
The black hole, named Gaia BH3, was discovered “by chance” from data collected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, an astronomer from the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Observatoire de Paris, Pasquale Panuzzo, told AFP.
Gaia, which is dedicated to mapping the Milky Way galaxy, located BH3 2,000 light years away from Earth in the Aquila constellation.
As Gaia’s telescope can give a precise position of stars in the sky, astronomers were able to characterise their orbits and measure the mass of the star’s invisible companion — 33 times that of the Sun.
Further observations from on-the-ground telescopes confirmed that it was a black hole with a mass far greater than the stellar black holes already in the Milky Way.
“This is the kind of discovery you make once in your research life,” Panuzzo said in a press release.
The stellar black hole was discovered when scientists spotted a “wobbling” motion on the companion star that was orbiting it.
BH3 is a “dormant” black hole and is too far away from its companion star to strip it of its matter and therefore emits no X-rays — making it difficult to detect.
Source: AFP
