Recently discovered black hole is part of a nearby disrupted star cluster, study finds

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Gaia DR3 extinction corrected color-magnitude diagram (CMD) showing the location of the Gaia BH3 companion (red cross) and ED-2 members (B23) as blue and empty circles. Credit: arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2404.11604

European astronomers have investigated a recently detected black hole designated Gaia BH3. In their results, they found that the black hole is associated with a nearby disrupted star cluster known as ED-2. The finding is reported in a paper published April 17 on the preprint server arXiv.

At a distance of some 1,900 light years, Gaia BH3 is a black hole discovered in April 2024 in a wide binary system within the galactic halo. It has a mass of about 33 solar masses, which makes it the most massive black hole of stellar origin known in our galaxy. The black hole's visible companion is an old, very metal-poor giant star, about five times larger than the sun, with a mass of approximately 0.76 solar masses. The system has a period of 11.6 years.

Leave a Comment