Astronomers found the closest black hole to Earth — and there could be millions more like it

NASA, ESA, and D. Coe, J. Anderson, and R. van der Marel (STScI)

• Astronomers have discovered a black hole just 1,000 light-years from our solar system — the closest ever found.
• Usually scientists find black holes by detecting the X-rays they emit, but scientists stumbled upon this one when they observed two stars orbiting each other and realized a massive, invisible object was in the mix.
• There could be millions of other silent black holes like this in the galaxy.
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Astronomers have discovered the closest black hole to our solar system — it's just 1,000 light-years away.

Scientists from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) detailed the findings in a study published Wednesday in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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