Gemini North observatory on Hawaii reveals the first hibernating, stellar-mass black hole in our cosmic backyard, which is the closest black hole to Earth. Astronomers have located the location of the nearest black hole to Earth with the aid of the International Gemini Observatory.

It has been proven for the first time that the Milky Way contains a dormant stellar-mass black hole. Its near proximity to Earth and short distance from Earth—just 1600 light-years—make research into it a fascinating subject that will aid in our understanding of how binary systems arise. The most extreme phenomena in the universe are black holes.

These enormously dense objects are predicted to exist in supermassive variants at the centres of all large galaxies. Black holes with stellar masses, which range from five to one hundred times that of the Sun, are substantially more common. In fact, it's estimated that the Milky Way alone has 100 million stellar-mass black holes. Only a few have been officially confirmed thus far, and practically all of them are 'active.' They are brilliant in X-rays as they consume stuff from a nearby star companion, unlike dormant black holes, which are not.

The closest black hole to Earth has now been found by astronomers, and it has been given the name Gaia BH1. They used the Gemini North telescope in Hawai'i, one of the twin telescopes of the International Gemini Observatory, which is run by NOIRLab of the National Science Foundation, to detect it.

Gaia BH1 is a dormant black hole in the constellation Ophiuchus that is around 1600 light-years away and roughly 10 times as big as the Sun. In comparison to the previous record holder, an X-ray binary in the constellation Monoceros, it is now three times closer to Earth.

To determine whether the system might contain a black hole, the researchers first examined data from the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft. Gaia noticed the tiny alterations in the star's motion brought on by an invisible, huge object. 

By measuring the companion star's velocity as it around the black hole, this equipment was able to precisely calculate the companion star's orbital period. The Gemini follow-up observations, which were crucial in placing restrictions on the orbital velocity, let the scientists to determine that the core body is a black hole roughly 10 times as massive as our Sun.