Black holes are the hungry dark titans of the universe. Their gravity is so immensely powerful that not even light can escape it. The biggest black hole in the Milky Way galaxy can fit around 4 million suns and is about 26,600 lightyears away from Earth, but there are still some that are closer. 

Gaia BH1 is the closest black hole to our solar system discovered so far. The black hole was discovered by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia observations in September, 2022. They discovered this black hole by looking at the black hole’s gravitational effect on its nearest stars, some in its binary system.

Gaia BH1 is similar and different from other black holes. One similarity is its size. It is 10 times more massive than the Sun, similar to most stellar black holes. A difference is it is directed towards the Ophiuchus constellation. But overall, what makes this black hole special is its proximity to Earth. Still, it is 1,560 light-years away from the Sun which means that this black hole poses no threat to us. However, there must be black holes far much closer to us than 

Gaia BH1.

Nevertheless, the closest black hole discovered for now is Gaia BH1. There are probably more black holes nearer to us and it is up to astronomers and physicists to find these shadowy giants. Where do you think they will find the next black hole?

Citations:

European Space Agency.int

Cosmomagazine.com