Posted on by Evan Gough

The Milky Way’s Most Massive Stellar Black Hole is Only 2,000 Light Years Away

This image shows the locations of the first three black holes discovered by ESA's Gaia mission in the Milky Way. Gaia Black Hole 1 (BH1) is located just 1560 light-years away from us in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus; Gaia BH2 is 3800 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus; Gaia BH3 is in the constellation Aquila, at a distance of 1926 light-years from Earth. In galactic terms, these black holes reside in our cosmic backyard. Image Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC. Licence CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Astronomers have found the largest stellar mass black hole in the Milky Way so far. At 33 solar masses, it dwarfs the previous record-holder, Cygnus X-1, which has only 21 solar masses. Most stellar mass black holes have about 10 solar masses, making the new one—Gaia BH3—a true giant.

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