This is a list of known black holes that are close to the Solar System, which is the planetary system Earth is part of.

It is thought that most black holes are solitary, but black holes in binary or larger systems are much easier to detect. Solitary black holes can generally only be detected by measuring their gravitational distortion of the light from more distant objects. As of February 2022, only one isolated black hole has been confirmed, OGLE-2011-BLG-0462, around 5,200 light-years away.

List of nearest known black holes

The nearest known black hole is Gaia BH1, which was discovered in September 2022 by a team led by Kareem El-Badry. Gaia BH1 is 1,560 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus.

List of nearest known black holes

For comparison, the nearest star to the Sun is about away, and the Milky Way galaxy is approximately 100,000 light years in diameter.

List of nearest known black holes

List

See also

List of black holes

List of most massive black holes

Lists of astronomical objects

List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs

NGC 3201 – a globular cluster with many black holes

NGC 7727 – a galaxy with the closest confirmed binary black hole at 89 million light years away

References

nearest black holes

nearest black holes

nearest black holes