A “unicorn” distorts the room

• A new black hole at Milky Way Discover
• “Rhino” he is Especially close to the ground
• Black hole Unusually small

Astronomers at Ohio State University discovered a new black hole. The special thing about it: It is the smallest known black hole in the Milky Way. It is also the closest to Earth.

New black hole: a “unicorn” is particularly small and close to Earth

The “rhinoceros,” as the researchers called the object, lies 1,500 light-years from Earth and three times the mass of the sun. So, “Unicorn” is too small for a black hole. Its name is due to two factors: on the one hand, it is due to the uniqueness of the object, and it was discovered in the constellation “Monoceros” (“the unicorn”). The results of the study were published in the journal.Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyPublished.

The unicorn has drawn attention due to its constant companion V723 Mon. The red giant was already observed in the past, which is why so much data about it was already available. It was found that the brightness of “V723 Mon” has changed. However, it is not yet assumed that the cause may be a black hole.

The research team led by astronomer Tharindu Jayasinghe used the available data on the red giant star to find out more about the fluctuations of light. They also found that the shape of the star was distorted. From the results, astronomers concluded that “V723 Mon” may be accompanied by a small black hole that astronomers cannot see.

The black hole distorts the shape of its companion star

When we looked at the data, a black hole almost appeared. Study author Tharindu Jayasinghe explains. According to co-author Todd Thompson, the distortion of the red giant star through the black hole can also be explained: “Just as the moon’s gravitational pull moves the oceans, causing them to swell toward the moon and create tide and flow, the black is a hole that distorts the star in a football-like fashion.” Meanwhile, the unicorn was present. Independent study Agreed.