Massive black hole discovered close to Earth

[jayem]

The Milky Way has a big newfound black hole, and it lurks close to Earth! This sleeping giant was discovered with the European space telescope Gaia, which tracks the motion of billions of stars in our galaxy.

Stellar-mass black holes are created when a large star runs out of fuel and collapses. The new discovery is a landmark, representing the first time that a big black hole with such an origin has been found close to Earth

The stellar-mass black hole, designated Gaia-BH3, is 33 times more massive than our sun. The previous most massive black hole of this class found in the Milky Way was a black hole in an X-ray binary in the Cygnus constellation (Cyg X-1), whose mass is estimated to be around 20 times that of the sun. The average stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way is about 10 times heftier than the sun.

Very cool! The black hole is 2000 ly away from us. Astronomically, that might be considered close. But even with its large mass and huge gravitational field, I wouldn't worry about our planet being swallowed up.

Record breaker! Milky Way's most monstrous stellar-mass black hole is sleeping giant lurking close to Earth

 

[Ophiolite]

Thank you for the post: interesting.

I do have a minor problem with the reporting. (Obviously not your fault.) Those with a significant interest in astronomy will likely know the distinction between a stellar mass black hole and a supermassive black hole, found at the centre of many (most?) galaxies. Others, with less prior interest, may be left with the impression that this recently identified black hole is the largest in the galaxy - an honour it misses by several order of magnitude. A single sentence could prevent such misunderstanding.

Pedantic? Probably. It's my superpower.

 

[AV1611VET]

Very cool! The black hole is 2000 ly away from us. Astronomically, that might be considered close.

Here we go.

But even with its large mass and huge gravitational field, I wouldn't worry about our planet being swallowed up.

Because we're not going to be here by then, due to AGW? or Y3K? or Apophis? or ...

 

[durangodawood]

Thank you for the post: interesting.

I do have a minor problem with the reporting. (Obviously not your fault.) Those with a significant interest in astronomy will likely know the distinction between a stellar mass black hole and a supermassive black hole, found at the centre of many (most?) galaxies. Others, with less prior interest, may be left with the impression that this recently identified black hole is the largest in the galaxy - an honour it misses by several order of magnitude. A single sentence could prevent such misunderstanding.

Pedantic? Probably. It's my superpower.

Good call. When they said "The previous most massive black hole of this class..." I'm like hey I knew Id heard of bigger black holes somewhere.

 

[durangodawood]

....The previous most massive black hole of this class found in the Milky Way was a black hole in an X-ray binary in the Cygnus constellation (Cyg X-1), whose mass is estimated to be around 20 times that of the sun.....

This new one needs its own song.

 

[sjastro]

Here is a fun fact based on the mathematics behind black holes.
An astronaut at or near the event horizon of a supermassive black hole will experience nothing, whereas for a stellar mass black hole the astronaut would have been torn to shreds by the tidal forces.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Here we go.



Because we're not going to be here by then, due to AGW? or Y3K? or Apophis? or ...

Y2.038K

 

[AV1611VET]

Y2.038K

That too.

 

[Shemjaza]

Here we go.



Because we're not going to be here by then, due to AGW? or Y3K? or Apophis? or ...

No one with any knowledge is describing it as a threat to us.

It's just a collapsed star, it can no longer twinkle prettily, but as an advantage it can't explode either.

Apophis and AGW are both very real and measurable physical phenomena. We shouldn't currently be worried about Apophis, but it's definitely big and nearby. AGW is demonstrably causing mesurable instability in our weather, which is a more legitimate concern.

I know you think the Y3K is very clever because you vaugely remember some hysterical news articles from the late 990s about Y2K. but you constantly ignore that Y2K was a very legitimate danger to our economy and infrastructure. It wasn't a problem because w whole lot of people worked very hard to make sure not major computer systems went offline or corrupted data. I doubt you can find a single expert from the era claiming it was going to end civilisation.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

The Milky Way has a big newfound black hole, and it lurks close to Earth! This sleeping giant was discovered with the European space telescope Gaia, which tracks the motion of billions of stars in our galaxy.

Stellar-mass black holes are created when a large star runs out of fuel and collapses. The new discovery is a landmark, representing the first time that a big black hole with such an origin has been found close to Earth

The stellar-mass black hole, designated Gaia-BH3, is 33 times more massive than our sun. The previous most massive black hole of this class found in the Milky Way was a black hole in an X-ray binary in the Cygnus constellation (Cyg X-1), whose mass is estimated to be around 20 times that of the sun. The average stellar-mass black hole in the Milky Way is about 10 times heftier than the sun.

Very cool! The black hole is 2000 ly away from us. Astronomically, that might be considered close. But even with its large mass and huge gravitational field, I wouldn't worry about our planet being swallowed up.

Record breaker! Milky Way's most monstrous stellar-mass black hole is sleeping giant lurking close to Earth

Hate to be a kill joy but, I don't really think they exist. Methods used to prove existence is a bit wobbly ( no pun intended).

 

[Ophiolite]

Hate to be a kill joy but, I don't really think they exist. Methods used to prove existence is a bit wobbly ( no pun intended).

No need to apologise. The opinion of an anonymous person on the internet offers little (practically, nothing) to the conclusions of scores of experts, both observers and theorists. Scepticism about their existence was justifiable half a century ago, not today. That said, what specific evidence do you suggest undermines the reality of black holes?

 

[Maria Billingsley]

No need to apologise. The opinion of an anonymous person on the internet offers little (practically, nothing) to the conclusions of scores of experts, both observers and theorists. Scepticism about their existence was justifiable half a century ago, not today. That said, what specific evidence do you suggest undermines the reality of black holes?

The lack of visually confirming the process of spaghettification. They can observe a wobble or a shadow but not something as amazing as spaghetti! Not buying it ( yet). So many excuses why this can not be observed. But don't get me wrong , I am a syfi nut and love it just the same.

 

[SelfSim]

The lack of visually confirming the process of spaghettification. They can observe a wobble or a shadow but not something as amazing as spaghetti! Not buying it ( yet). So many excuses why this can not be observed. But don't get me wrong , I am a syfi nut and love it just the same.

Wow .. that's a new one .. haven't heard that as being the criteria before 'buying it'(!?)

 

[adrianmonk]

Y2.038K

32bit time_t demise ?

 

[adrianmonk]

It's just a collapsed star, it can no longer twinkle prettily, but as an advantage it can't explode either

According to theorists, at least not for a very very very long time. But around 10^30 years, they will emit a burst of light and then go away.

 

[sjastro]

The lack of visually confirming the process of spaghettification. They can observe a wobble or a shadow but not something as amazing as spaghetti! Not buying it ( yet). So many excuses why this can not be observed. But don't get me wrong , I am a syfi nut and love it just the same.

As mentioned in post#6 for supermassive black holes tidal forces only build up to significant levels inside the event horizon for spaghettification to occur which can never be observed.
For stellar mass black holes such as Cygnus X-1 mentioned in the OP it was not spaghettification which defined the black hole but its x-ray spectrum.
Cygnus X-1 is an example of an X-ray binary where an orbiting dense object such as a neutron star or black hole is stripping gas from a central star.
For neutron stars the X-ray emission spectrum are from two sources which are distinctly different, infalling gas which is heated up to very high temperatures due to friction and gas colliding with the surface.
If the object is a black hole, only the friction source can be measured as collisions occur inside the event horizon and X-rays emitted can never reach our detectors.

The closest we have come to seeing something resembling spaghettification occurred in our own solar system involving Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter in 1994 where the comet was elongated and pulled apart into separate components by Jupiter's gravity.

 

[SelfSim]

..
The closest we have come to seeing something resembling spaghettification occurred in our own solar system involving Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter in 1994 where the comet was elongated and pulled apart into separate components by Jupiter's gravity.

.. and if the Jupiter/Shoemaker-Levy 9 image displays a very rough analogue of spaghettification, then an observation of spaghettification someplace, isn't a unique criterion for inferring the presence of a stellar mass black hole.

Therefore, it beats me why one would expect the chance observation of 'spaghettification' as being a criteria for accepting the existence of black holes(?) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(PS: Just a purely rhetorical question there .. )

 

[Shemjaza]

According to theorists, at least not for a very very very long time. But around 10^30 years, they will emit a burst of light and then go away.

Okay, technically you're right... but given that the last starts would have sputtered out in only 10^15 years I don't think the black hole popping is an imminent danger.

 

[sjastro]

.. and if the Jupiter/Shoemaker-Levy 9 image displays a very rough analogue of spaghettification, then an observation of spaghettification someplace, isn't a unique criterion for inferring the presence of a stellar mass black hole.

Therefore, it beats me why one would expect the chance observation of 'spaghettification' as being a criteria for accepting the existence of black holes(?) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(PS: Just a purely rhetorical question there .. )

Spaghettification can also occur with neutron stars and white dwarfs which not only depends on the strength of the tidal forces but also on the rigidity of the object being stretched.

 

[adrianmonk]

I

Okay, technically you're right... but given that the last starts would have sputtered out in only 10^15 years I don't think the black hole popping is an imminent danger.

Yea Would love to be able to see the last hurrah.