Astronomers discover closest black hole to Earth

A newfound black hole may be the closest black hole to Earth, and you can spot its cosmic home in the night sky without a telescope.

The black hole, which is lurking 1,000 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Telescopium, belongs to a system with two companion stars that are bright enough to observe with the naked eye. But you won't be able to see the black hole itself; the massive object has such a strong gravitational pull that nothing — not even light — can escape it.

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(Image credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Davide De Martin)

This wide-field view shows the region of the sky, in the constellation of Telescopium, where HR 6819 is located.

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Triple system HR 6819 has 2 stars and an invisible black hole. The black hole is the closest known back hole to Earth.