Black holes · Dormant black hole

Gaia BH1

1,560 light-years · Light crosses it in 190 millionths of a second

Across

57 km

Vs Earth

0.45% of Earth

Mass

9.62 Suns

Open Gaia BH1 in Cosmic Scale

In the app, Gaia BH1 is part of the Beyond pack.

About

Gaia BH1 is the closest known black hole to Earth, found not by any glow but by watching a Sun-like star swing around something invisible. It is dormant: no disk, no X-rays, nothing falling in.

The closest known black hole to Earth, found by the wobble of its Sun-like companion.

At a glance

Mass	9.6 Suns
Distance	1,560 light-years
Orbit	186 days
Found	2022, from Gaia data

Did you know

1. Its companion orbits at roughly Earth's distance from the Sun — a normal star circling a black hole.
2. How such a pair survived the supernova that made the black hole is still unexplained.
3. Most known black holes are eating; quiet ones like this are likely far more common and far harder to find.

Simulations

• Two black holes merge — How two black holes spiral together, shake space itself and were heard on Earth 1.3 billion years later