Two recently discovered black holes are remarkably close to Earth — and they may represent a previously unknown category of the mysterious, massive objects. An international team of astronomers discovered the black holes using data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Gaia mission combined with a bevy of ground-based telescopes from around the world.
Dubbed Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2, the two black holes are the closest to Earth of any discovered so far, according to ESA. Gaia BH1 lies a mere 1,560 light-years from our solar system towards the Ophiuchus constellation, nearly three times closer than the previous record holder. Gaia BH2 sits about 3,800 light years away, toward the constellation Centaurus. Both are roughly nine to 10 times more massive than our sun, and sit within our own Milky Way galaxy.
