Black hole that's 33 times bigger than the Sun found 'lurking undetected' close to Earth

Space experts have come across the biggest black hole in the Milky Way after being spotted 'lurking' near Earth.

Some 33 times bigger than the solar system's own Sun, the discovery was made some 2,000 light years from our planet - a distance that is 'incredibly close to us' in astronomical terms at least, according to the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

A stellar black hole in nature, it was formed when a star collapsed.

And it was a big old star at that rate, given until this point no stellar black hole had been found that was more than 10 times as big as the Sun.

The discovery was found in data from the European Space Agency after imposing an odd ‘wobbling’ motion on the companion star orbiting it.

It's now officially the second closest known black hole to planet Earth.

This artist’s impression compares side-by-side three stellar black holes in our galaxy: Gaia BH1, Cygnus X-1 and Gaia BH3, whose masses are 10, 21 and 33 times that of the Sun respectively (ESO/M. Kornmesser)

Gaia collaboration member Pasquale Panuzzo, an astronomer from the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Observatoire de Paris - PSL, France, said: "No one was expecting to find a high-mass black hole lurking nearby, undetected so far.

"This is the kind of discovery you make once in your research life."

The ESO's Very Large Telescope was used to confirm what was found, with the tech - located in Chile’s Atacama Desert - allowing astronomers the ability to measure precisely what was being observed.

Dubbed Gaia BH3, it sits in the Aquila constellation, which is Latin for 'eagle' given it's shape.

Co-author Elisabetta Caffau, also a Gaia collaboration member and CNRS scientist from the Observatoire de Paris - PSL, said: "We took the exceptional step of publishing this paper based on preliminary data ahead of the forthcoming Gaia release because of the unique nature of the discovery."

Artist’s impression of the system with the most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy (ESO / L. Calcada)

Scientists now are hopeful that the aforementioned 'wobbly' star orbiting the stellar black hole can give specific clues as to how it was formed and therefore how others are formed.

Panuzzo and Caffau have also made their discovery and data available now rather than when fully packaged in 2025 to allow others to study what they have found.

"As soon as this comes out people will rush to observe it to see if there are any emissions from the black hole," Panuzza added.

"That will tell us about the wind that comes from stars like the one orbiting the black hole, and also about the physics of the black hole and how matter falls into it."

What are stellar black holes and how are they formed?

A stellar black hole is created when a star collapses in on itself due to gravity.

It happens when a star runs out of fuel and its core collapses inwards.

It then rebounds and explodes, causing a massive supernova (science speak for a powerful and colorful explosion of a star).

Topics: Space, Science, World News, News, Technology

Tom Earnshaw

Tom joined LADbible in 2024, specialising in SEO and trending content. He moved to the company from Reach plc where he enjoyed spells as a content editor and senior reporter for one of the country's most-read local news brands, LancsLive. When he's not in work, Tom spends his adult life as a suffering Manchester United supporter after a childhood filled with trebles and Premier League titles. You can't have it all forever, I suppose.

@TREarnshaw