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(The Gist of Science Reporter) Astronomers Find Closest Black Hole to Earth

(The Gist of Science Reporter) Astronomers Find Closest Black Hole to Eart

Astronomers the European Southern Observatory (ESO) along with from other institutes have discovered a black hole located just 1000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our Solar System than any other found till date and forms part of a triple system visible to the naked eye. The team of astronauts have found signs of the black hole by tracing its two companion stars by using the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.
The system is located in the constellation of Telescopium, it is so close to us that its stars can be easily viewed from the southern hemisphere on a dark, clear night even without using binoculars or a telescope. The hidden black hole in HR 6819 does not interact violently with its environment thus appears truly black. The team of astronomers was able to spot its existence and calculate its mass by studying the orbit of the star in the inner pair.
The research is presented in the paper “A naked-eye triple system with a non-accreting black hole in the inner binary,” and published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.