Black holes may be lurking much closer to Earth than previously thought

 The Milky Way, our home galaxy, is thought to be riddled with tiny black holes. These mysterious and dark formations are estimated to number between 10 million and 1 billion, but their elusive nature makes them difficult to discover and study. However, recent research has shown that these stellar-mass black holes may be much closer to us than previously thought, and perhaps right on the doorstep of our cosmos.

A team of astronomers analyzed the Hyades cluster, a group of stars 150 light-years away, to investigate the presence of stellar-mass black holes. Modeling the mass and motion of the cluster's stars using data from the Gaia satellite, which maps the positions and velocities of stars in the Milky Way, made it possible to simulate and reproduce observations of the cluster.

The researchers found that when two or three stellar-mass black holes were included in the model, their models closely matched the observed features of the Hyades cluster. This suggests that these black holes are either still present in the cluster or were ejected less than 150 million years ago and remain on its outskirts. The gravitational influence of these black holes can still be detected in the core of the cluster.

Astrophysicist Stefano Torniamenti from the University of Padua (Italy), one of the study participants, explains: "Our simulation can simultaneously match the mass and size of the Hyades only if today (or until recently."

The Hyades Cluster, visible to the naked eye in the constellation Taurus, is an open cluster of stars that share similar characteristics and move through space as a gravitationally bound group. Essentially, these open clusters are families of twin stars that emerged from a single molecular cloud and then dispersed.

In a dense stellar environment, such as the center of the Hyades cluster, stars are expected to interact and collide more frequently, leading to an increase in merger rates. This is where, according to astronomers, black holes, the end product of these interactions, can be found. However, black holes are difficult to detect because they do not emit light unless they actively absorb nearby stars.

Although the exact location of the black holes in the Hyades cluster remains unknown, this study strongly suggests that it contains the closest black hole candidates to the Solar System. Moreover, these black holes are believed to be more than 10 times closer than the previous candidate.

This discovery opens new possibilities for studying and understanding black holes, which are amazing cosmic phenomena. According to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, "black holes are places where God divides by zero." They have enormous gravitational pull, capable of bending space-time and absorbing anything that gets too close. Studying them can provide valuable information about the nature of our Universe.