Scientists believe that black holes are much closer to Earth than previously thought
2023-09-12 21:11:37
TiranaPost
Black holes are some of the most powerful and mysterious objects in the known universe - and they may be much closer to Earth than previously thought.
A study has found possible evidence of a black hole in the closest group of stars to Earth, called the Hyades group.
The closest black hole to Earth was thought to be 1,560 light-years away - but a new study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society suggests it could be as much as 150 light-years away.
Scientists at the University of Padua in Italy and the University of Barcelona in Spain used simulations to track the motion and evolution of all the stars in the open Hyades cluster.
What is a black hole?
Most black holes are believed to form from massive stars that have experienced a supernova explosion.
The mass from the star collapses in on itself, squeezing into a narrower region, until it becomes an object so dense that even light cannot escape its gravitational pull.
Research into black holes has picked up speed following the discovery of gravitational waves in 2015, attributed to the collision of two black holes 1.3 billion light-years away.
