Black holes are mysterious objects located somewhere in the cosmic darkness. But how far away are they, and should we be afraid that one of them will come closer to us? Here are seven such objects that are closest to the Earth.
Black holes
A black hole is a region of space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape. They are also the most popular objects in deep space today. This is unsurprising, given that their gravity can potentially tear the Sun and Earth apart.
Terrifying monsters lurking in the darkness will always fascinate people’s minds. But how many of them are there around us? After all, they can only be formed as a result of a supernova, a star with a mass at least 8-10 times that of the sun. And they are so rare that there is not a single one within a radius of 100 light-years from us, among hundreds of thousands of luminaries.
It is quite difficult to completely dispel the fear of black holes because if they wander somewhere alone through space, they do not emit anything at all. Therefore, we can only learn about their existence if they pass between us and some distant star. Then, its light is blocked or distorted, and scientists can tell that there is something there. But astronomers are only now learning to look for such events.
Source: Wikipedia
Although scientists cannot see individual black holes, they are still able to estimate how often they meet with stars and tear them apart. These events can be seen from hundreds of millions of light-years away, which is why they are known to be extremely rare.
Most of the black holes that scientists are sure exist and are located are components of binary systems. In this case, their presence can be detected due to the gravitational pull on the companion star. And sometimes they also absorb matter from it, and part of this matter is converted into high-frequency radiation, and this process is well visible.
But sometimes this method gives false results. For example, in 2021, scientists announced that they had discovered a black hole that was supposed to be the closest to us. The object, called “Unicorn”, was part of a double system located in the constellation of the same name at a distance of 1500 light-years from us.
However, the following year, another team of scientists took a closer look at the V723 Monoceros system and concluded that it consists of two giant stars, one of which is much brighter than the other, making it difficult to see.
And yet, it is quite possible to compile the top 7 known black holes closest to us. Here it is!
1. Gaia BH1
The closest known black hole was discovered in 2022, when it turned out that the V723 Monoceros system consists of only stars. This was done based on data from the Gaia space telescope, which has been surveying the sky for years, looking for the slightest irregularities in the movement of the stars. The discovered object was named Gaia BH1.
This black hole is located at a distance of 1560 light-years from us in the constellation of Ophiuchus. Its mass is 9.78 times that of the Sun. The companion is a star that is very similar to our sun, with a mass of 93% of the sun’s.
Together, these two objects orbit a common center of mass. This seems rather strange, since the radius of the star is almost 700 thousand kilometers, and the black hole is only 28 kilometers. Although the distance between the components is 1.4 AU, they make one revolution in 185 days.
2. Gaia BH3
The second most distant stellar mass black hole was discovered in 2024, also with the Gaia space telescope. It is located at a distance of 1920 light-years from us in the constellation of Aquila.
Gaia BH3’s mass is 32.7 times that of the Sun. At the same time, its companion is an old, bloated yellow star. Its radius is 4.9 times larger than that of the Sun, but it has only 76% of its mass.
Both objects orbit each other in 11.6 years. At the same time, their orbit is quite elongated. At its closest point, they are separated by 4.5 AU, and at its farthest point by 29 AU.
Gaia BH3 is interesting because it is located in the ED-2 star stream, located in the halo of our Galaxy. It is believed to have once been a star cluster. Due to the lack of metals in the companion star, this black hole may be very old, with an estimated age of 13 billion years.
3. Gaia BH2
The third most distant black hole from Earth was discovered by the same Gaia telescope. It was first reported in 2022, but confirmed only in 2023. It is located at a distance of 3800 light years from us in the constellation Centaurus.
Gaia BH2 has a mass 8.94 times that of the Sun, but its radius is only 26.4 km. Its companion is a red giant with a mass 17% greater than the Sun. Its radius is 8.6 times larger than our star. The system makes one revolution in 3.5 years, and the orbit is quite elongated.
4. Gaia 18ajz
The fourth most distant black hole is also associated with the Gaia telescope. However, it is not as simple as the previous ones. The fact is that, if it exists, it is a case of the aforementioned single object that can be found only when it passes in front of a distant star and obscures it.
The event recorded by Gaia lasted more than 1000 days, but scientists continue to argue about the existence and parameters of this object. The distance to it is estimated at 3800 light-years, but with a large error. Its mass is 12 solar masses, although there are other estimates.
5. V616 Monoceros
From 1986 to 2022, A0620-00, also known as V616 Monoceros, was considered the closest black hole to Earth. Now it is only in fifth place. It has been known for quite some time, initially as a variable. In 1917, the first outburst was recorded in the visible part of the spectrum, and in 1975, the second.
The latter was observed not only in the visible but also in the X-ray range and was classified as an X-ray nova. It was then that scientists began to wonder what it could be, and a decade later proved that one of the system’s components was a black hole.
Its companion is a rather interesting orange star. Its mass is only 34% of the Sun’s, but its radius is almost 6% larger than that of our luminary. Usually, this difference can be described as a transition to the red giant stage, but the star, which is part of the V616 Monoceros system, is too low-mass to have time to evolve.
It seems that the black hole, whose mass is 5.86 times that of the Sun, is taking away matter from it, and this affects the evolution of the luminosity. The system makes one revolution in 7.7 hours.
6. OGLE-2011-BLG-0462
In 2022, a team of scientists analyzing data from the Hubble Space Telescope announced that they had found traces of a microlensing event that occurred in 2011. It is evidence of the existence of another single black hole. Since then, there have been attempts to disprove its existence, but it was finally confirmed in 2025.
A black hole has a mass 6.03 times that of the Sun (according to other sources, 7 times). This makes it one of the lightest known objects in its class. The distance to it is 5150 light-years.
7. GRS 1124-683
The seventh black hole on our list is called GRS 1124-683. In 1991, it revealed its existence with an X-ray nova outburst, very similar to V616 Monoceros. This system is also known as GU Mus and is located in the constellation of the same name at a distance of 5400 light-years from us.
In addition to the black hole, which is 6.95 times heavier than our star, it also includes an orange dwarf with a mass of 85% of the sun. The system makes one revolution in 10.4 hours. Matter from the stellar companion flows into the black hole and forms an accretion disk. It is a source of X-rays.
