Astronomers amazed by black hole discovery

11 Jul 2024
Image showing the location of the black hole amongst the wider galaxy
A new coloured ESA/Hubble image of Omega Centauri showing location of black hole. Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Häberle (MPIA).

A massive black hole ­– about 20,000 times the size of the sun – has been confirmed as the closest to our solar system by an international study involving University of Queensland researchers.

This discovery validates decades of speculation about the black hole’s existence, which the team found at the centre of the neighbouring star cluster Omega Centauri in the Milky Way, about 18,000 light-years from our solar system.

Read the full story

Latest