Black holes are terrifying enough due to the jaw-dropping characteristics that defy even the laws of physics themselves. But what if such a monster dwells somewhere in our own cosmic backyard? A new discovery can make any of us become scared, although objectively speaking, there’s no need for that.
A group of researchers recently discovered a black hole located at only about 1,000 light-years away from Earth, in the Telescopium constellation. While a human being would never be able to travel such a distance with our current technology, compared to the vastness of the Universe, it’s just like a blink of an eye.
Thomas Rivinius, leader of the research and an astronomer from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile, confirmed the obvious:
On the scale of the Milky Way, it’s in our backyard,
Almost on our doorstep.
In fact, the newfound black hole is so close that we can see the stars orbiting it with the naked eye. This is both frightening and exciting at the same time.
Is Earth in danger?
There’s no official statement that claims we’re in danger because of the black hole located 1,000 light-years away. But if Earth ever falls into a black hole, our chances of survival are practically zero.
One hypothesis for what happens as soon as objects fall into a black hole is that they don’t get devoured – instead, they could fall into another dimension. The Interstellar movie released in 2013 speculated such a scenario, as the character who fell into a black hole managed to travel back in time. Such an unfolding of events happening in real life has been refuted by the American astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who said that when you’re falling into a black hole, you’re pretty much doomed.
Hopefully, no-one will ever fall into a black hole, but the truth is that humanity still has a lot more to learn about these cosmic monsters.
