Scientists discovered a little black hole just 1500 light-years away from Earth, three times bigger than the sun

Astronomers have discovered a black hole closest to the Earth. This small black hole is just 1,500 light-years away from Earth and is named Unicorn. This black hole is located in the Monoceros planetarium and its mass is just three times more than our sun. The leader of the search team, Thirindu Jayasinghe, says that it is unique and hence its name was given a unicorn.

Difference in light

Jayasinghe, a Ph.D. student of astronomy at Ohio State University, said that this black hole has a companion that is a red giant star. The life of this star is coming to an end. This star has been observed with the help of different instruments. After analyzing this dataset, the team found that the difference in the light of the star could be seen.

It was estimated that an object is changing its shape. Based on the difference in the speed and illumination of the star, the team concluded that the object is a black hole.

How did you know?

Study co-researcher Todd Thompson explained that the way the moon's gravity causes high tide on Earth is impacting the black hole star. However, this is a conjecture and is a black hole, to be confirmed. Very few black holes with such low mass have been discovered because they are very difficult to find. The light in the black hole is unable to return. They are detected based on the effect they have on surrounding objects.