In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have uncovered the largest stellar black hole in the Milky Way, named Gaia BH3, with a mass 33 times that of the Sun. The detection was made from data collected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, which is dedicated to mapping the Milky Way galaxy. Gaia BH3 is located 2,000 light years away from Earth in the Aquila constellation.
The use of Gaia’s telescope allowed astronomers to accurately measure the orbits of stars and determine that an invisible companion star had a mass 33 times that of the Sun. This confirmed it as a black hole. Further observations from on-the-ground telescopes confirmed this was the largest stellar black hole discovered in our Milky Way so far.
The discovery of Gaia BH3 was unexpected and considered a rare find in astronomical research. Scientists noticed a “wobbling” motion in a companion star orbiting the black hole, leading to its identification. Unlike supermassive black holes whose origins are still unknown, this stellar black hole was created from the collapse of a massive star.
Gaia BH3 is classified as a “dormant” black hole since it is too far from its companion star to strip it of matter and does not emit X-rays. Gaia’s telescope has previously identified two other inactive black holes in our Milky Way, making this the third discovery of its kind.
Gaia has been operational for over ten years and has delivered a comprehensive 3D map of over 1.8 billion stars’ positions and motions by 2022. This latest discovery sheds new light on the diversity of black holes in our galaxy and opens up new possibilities for astronomical research.