Discovery of Gaia BH3: The Enigmatic 33-Solar-Mass Black Hole in the Milky Way

Astronomers have discovered a massive black hole in the Milky Way galaxy, named Gaia BH3. This black hole has a mass of 33 times that of the Sun and was identified through data collected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission. The discovery of this black hole was unexpected, as it was found by chance. Further observations from ground telescopes confirmed its presence, which had previously been undetected.

Stellar black holes like Gaia BH3 are formed from the collapse of massive stars at the end of their life. However, unlike other active black holes, Gaia BH3 is considered dormant because it is too far away from its companion star to emit X-rays. Despite this, its discovery has added to our understanding of black holes and their presence in our galaxy.

Gaia has been instrumental in identifying other inactive black holes in the Milky Way, including Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2. The space mission has been operating for the past 10 years and has provided valuable data about the positions and motions of over 1.8 billion stars. The discovery of Gaia BH3 highlights how much more there is to learn about these mysterious celestial objects that exist beyond our understanding.