Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery of the largest stellar black hole in the Milky Way, named Gaia BH3, with a mass 33 times that of the Sun. The revelation was made from data collected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, which is dedicated to mapping the Milky Way galaxy.
Using Gaia’s telescope, astronomers were able to precisely measure the orbits of stars and determine that an invisible companion of one star had a mass 33 times that of the Sun, confirming it was a black hole. Further observations from on-the-ground telescopes confirmed that this was the largest stellar black hole discovered in the 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. This stellar black hole was created from the collapse of a massive star, unlike supermassive black holes whose origins are still unknown.
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 has previously identified two other inactive black holes in the Milky Way, making this the third discovery of its kind.
Gaia has been operating for over ten years now and has delivered an unprecedented 3D map of positions and motions of over 1.8 billion stars in 2022. This latest discovery highlights the diversity of black holes within our galaxy and provides new avenues for future research into these fascinating celestial objects.
In conclusion, this groundbreaking discovery sheds light on one of nature’s most mysterious phenomena – stellar black holes – offering us new insights into their formation and behavior within our galaxy.