Astronomers have discovered the largest stellar black hole in the Milky Way, named Gaia BH3. This black hole has a mass 33 times that of the Sun and was identified through data collected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission. The telescope used by Gaia provided precise positions of stars in the sky, allowing astronomers to measure the mass of Gaia BH3.
The discovery of Gaia BH3 was unexpected, as it was found by chance. Further observations from ground telescopes confirmed the presence of this high-mass black hole, which was previously undetected. Stellar black holes like Gaia BH3 are formed from the collapse of massive stars at the end of their life. However, Gaia BH3 is considered dormant because it is too far away from its companion star to emit X-rays.
Gaia has been instrumental in identifying other inactive black holes in the Milky Way, including Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2. This space mission has been operating for the past 10 years, providing valuable data about the positions and motions of over 1.8 billion stars. The discovery of Gaia BH3 adds to our understanding of black holes and their presence in our galaxy.
