The infinite cosmos that surrounds us hides great mysteries that we are slowly discovering and that leave us amazed at how immense, grand and complex the universe is.
Recently, a group of scientists was surprised by a shocking discovery of a gigantic dormant black hole located in our galaxy, the Milky Way.
This discovery is part of the Gaia mission, which is focused on creating an extraordinarily precise three-dimensional map of the more than one billion stars and celestial bodies that make up the Milky Way.
The scientists of this mission announced that they have found a massive black hole, measuring approximately 33 times the mass of the Sun, which is located at a distance of 2 thousand light years from Earth, in the constellation of Aquila.
This black hole was named Gaia BH3 and experts mention that it is the first time that a discovery like this has been made in our galaxy, which is why they were surprised by its immense size.
The discovery of this black hole was random and was due to the fact that a group of scientists was investigating the trajectory oscillation of an ancient giant star in the constellation of Aquila, which is located at a distance of 1926 light years from Earth.
Analyzing the motion of this star, experts realized that it was influenced and trapped in an orbital motion with an inactive black hole of immense mass, approximately 33 times the mass of the Sun.
Astronomers predict that this new black hole has its matter completely compacted, that not even light can escape from the immense gravitational attraction it has, which is why it was very hidden in the dark and deep space of the Milky Way, which was very difficult to identify it.
Gaia BH3 is considered to be a gigantic dormant black hole, as it is inactive, since it has no nearby stars to steal energy or matter from, therefore, no trace of light is seen in space and its identification was difficult.
The scientist who made this amazing discovery was Pasquale Panuzzo of the National Center for Scientific Research at the Paris Observatory, France, who is passionate about his great discovery. “This is the kind of discovery that is made once in a lifetime researcher”Panuzzo said in a statement from the European Space Agency.
Also, Panuzzo mentioned that “So far, black holes of this size have only been detected in distant galaxies through the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, thanks to gravitational wave observations.«.
Until now, the black holes found in our galaxy have an average size of 10 times the mass of the sun and the largest hole that existed in our galaxy had been Cygnus X-1 with 21 solar masses.
For now, astronomers in charge of the Gaia mission and other scientists are looking for a way to find and explain the origin of this massive black hole in our galaxy.
It is mentioned that possibly the star that gave rise to this large black hole was very poor in metals and has only lived for about 3 million years, in addition to rotating in the opposite direction to other stars, which is why, It could have been swallowed during the origin of the Milky Way.
This amazing discovery was recently published in the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) and is the preliminary to new grandiose investigations, which will try to understand the complexity and history of this immense black hole.
On the other hand, Carole Mundell, Director of Science at the European Space Agency, mentions that “It is impressive to see the transformative impact Gaia is having on astronomy and astrophysics. Since her discoveries go beyond the original purpose of the mission”.
The Gaia mission still has a long way to go and impressive new discoveries to reveal before being completed, which is why more celestial bodies or sleeping black holes that are hidden in the Milky Way can be found.
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