Gaia BH1
Binary system containing the closest known black hole to Earth
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Through Light-year, Parsec and Solar System
Characteristics
The star and black hole orbit each other with a period of 185.387 days and an eccentricity of 0.4323. The star is similar to the Sun, with about 0.93 M☉ and 0.99 R☉, and a temperature of about 5,850 K (5,580 °C; 10,070 °F), while the black hole has a mass of about 9.62 M☉. Given this mass, the black hole's Schwarzschild radius should be about 28 km (17 mi).
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Discovery
Gaia BH1 was discovered in 2022 via astrometric observations with Gaia, and also observed via radial velocity. The discovery team found no astrophysical scenario that could explain the observed motion of the G-type star, other than a black hole. The system differs from "black hole impostors" such as LB-1 and HR 6819 in that the evidence for a black hole does not depend on the mass of the star or the inclination of the orbit, and there is no evidence of mass transfer. The discovery team also found a second system that is a candidate for containing a black hole, which was also reported by another team of astronomers, and was confirmed in 2023 as Gaia BH2.
The black hole was also independently detected by a second team, who found slightly different parameters.