Supermassive Black Hole Likely Lurking in Milky Way's Nearest Neighbor

Astronomers have identified a supermassive black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Milky Way's nearest satellite galaxy, marking it as the closest known black hole outside our galaxy. This discovery was made by tracing the paths of 21 hypervelocity stars using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission. These stars are moving at such high speeds that they will escape the gravitational pull of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Researchers found that approximately half of these stars are linked to the Milky Way's central black hole, while the other half originated from the newly discovered black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, located about 160,000 light-years away. Kareem El-Badry, a Caltech assistant professor and co-author of the study, emphasized the significance of Gaia's data in tracing the origins of these stars. Jesse Han, the study's lead author from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, expressed astonishment at the proximity of another supermassive black hole, which had remained undetected until now. The findings have been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

- A supermassive black hole has been discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the closest satellite galaxy to the Milky Way.

- The discovery was made by tracing hypervelocity stars using data from the Gaia mission.

- About half of the hypervelocity stars are linked to the Milky Way's black hole, while the other half originated from the new black hole.

- The Large Magellanic Cloud's black hole is approximately 160,000 light-years away.

- The findings highlight the stealthy nature of black holes and their potential proximity to Earth.