Scientists have discovered the largest black hole.

Scientists claim to have found the largest black hole in the galaxy. Its mass is 33 times that of the Sun. So far it has not been discovered. French researchers reported this information in a research paper published on Tuesday (April 16). News from The Guardian.

The newly discovered black hole is named Gaia BH3. Astronomer Pasquale Panuzzo of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Observatory of Paris said that scientists discovered the crater quite by accident. It was discovered by analyzing data collected by the European Space Agency's Gaia mission.

The Gaia mission primarily worked to map the Milky Way galaxy. It has now identified a black hole named BH3 in the Aquila asteroid 2,000 light-years from Earth. The Gaia telescope can basically detect the exact position of a star in the sky. From this information, astronomers can determine the orbits of stars, their masses and invisible companions.

After identifying the location of the black hole by analyzing the data from the Gaia telescope, scientists confirmed its existence using a surface telescope.

Panuzzo said in a news release, "No one thought that such a massive black hole could exist so close to Earth undiscovered." A chance to make such a discovery comes once in one's research life. Scientists began to speculate about the existence of the black hole by observing the oscillations of the companion star orbiting it.

"We saw a star slightly smaller and brighter than the Sun orbiting an invisible companion," Panuzzo said.

Gaia BH3 is essentially a stellar black hole. Basically, when the life of a star is over, its collapse results in the formation of such black holes. However, they have different properties than supermassive black holes.

The cause of the formation of other massive black holes is unknown. Such massive black holes can already be detected by gravitational waves in the most distant galaxies. However, Panuzzo said, "No such black hole has been detected in the galaxy."