宇宙魔王离地球仅咫尺之遥，33倍太阳质量"黑洞巨兽"惊现银河系内

天文学家在银河系内发现了质量最大的恒星级黑洞Gaia BH3，其质量是太阳的33倍，刷新了之前21个太阳质量的天鹅座X-1黑洞的记录。这个黑洞巨兽位于天鹰座星云，距离地球仅2000光年，是继1500光年外的Gaia BH1之后，距离地球第二近的已知黑洞。
黑洞是广义相对论预言的天体，由于质量巨大，连光也无法逃脱其引力。它们源于大质量恒星的坍缩，会吞噬周围一切物质，分为恒星级和超大质量两种。介于两者之间的中等质量黑洞(100-100,000个太阳质量)是宇宙中最神秘的存在，理论上存在但尚未有明确证据。
Gaia BH3的发现源于欧空局盖亚航天器对银河系20亿颗恒星的精确观测。科学家通过分析盖亚数据，注意到一颗恒星的异常运动轨迹，最终在智利阿塔卡马沙漠的天文台确认其为Gaia BH3的引力所致。Gaia BH3的伴星呈现出"金属贫乏"特征，缺乏重元素，这与小质量黑洞可能源于轻元素恒星的理论相吻合。
Gaia BH3的发现对研究中等质量黑洞具有重要意义。科学家计划对其进行深入研究，利用先进设备对其质量、运动状态等进行高精度测量，以验证恒星级黑洞形成理论。同时，研究团队还将分析Gaia BH3对周围恒星、气体云的影响，以认清小质量黑洞的作用方式，并推进对中等质量黑洞的探索。中等质量黑洞可能在星系演化中扮演关键角色，是超大质量黑洞的"催化剂"。Gaia BH3的发现为揭开这一谜团提供了新的契机。
此外，Gaia BH3的发现还可能为检验广义相对论等理论极端情形提供新平台。当恒星或气体云被黑洞吞噬时，会形成吸积盘并辐射出多样的电磁辐射，这有助于我们理解极端引力场下的物质行为。尽管广义相对论在太阳系内得到了验证，但在黑洞等强引力场下仍缺乏观测验证。Gaia BH3等黑洞天体的研究有望扭转这一局面。
Astronomers have discovered the most massive stellar black hole in the Milky Way galaxy, named Gaia BH3, with a mass 33 times that of the sun, breaking the previous record held by the Cygnus X-1 black hole, which is 21 solar masses. This black hole beast is located in the Aquila Nebula, just 2000 light-years away from Earth, making it the second-nearest known black hole to Earth after the Gaia BH1, which is 1500 light-years away.
Black holes are celestial bodies predicted by the general theory of relativity. Due to their immense mass, even light cannot escape their gravity. They originate from the collapse of massive stars and continuously consume all surrounding matter, divided into two main types: stellar-mass and supermassive. Intermediate-mass black holes (with masses between 100 and 100,000 solar masses) are the most mysterious in the universe, theoretically existing but not yet confirmed by clear evidence.
The discovery of Gaia BH3 stems from the unprecedented Gaia spacecraft mission by the European Space Agency, which has mapped the precise positions and motion data of about 2 billion stars in the Milky Way. Scientists, by analyzing Gaia's data, noticed an unusual motion trajectory of a star, which was eventually confirmed as the gravity of Gaia BH3 at the Atacama Desert Observatory in Chile. The companion star of Gaia BH3 shows a "metal-poor" characteristic, lacking heavier elements, which aligns with the theory that low-mass black holes may originate from stars that only fuse lighter elements.
The discovery of Gaia BH3 is significant for studying intermediate-mass black holes. Scientists plan to conduct in-depth research on it, using advanced equipment to make high-precision measurements of its mass, motion status, etc., to verify the formation theory of stellar-mass black holes. Meanwhile, the research team will also analyze the impact of Gaia BH3 on surrounding stars and gas clouds to understand the interaction of low-mass black holes with their environment and advance the exploration of intermediate-mass black holes. Intermediate-mass black holes may play a key role in the evolution of galaxies, acting as a "catalyst" for supermassive black holes. The discovery of Gaia BH3 provides new opportunities to unravel this mystery.
In addition, the discovery of Gaia BH3 may also provide a new platform for testing extreme cases of theories such as general relativity. When stars or gas clouds are swallowed by black holes, they form an accretion disk and emit intense and diverse electromagnetic radiation, which may help us understand the behavior of matter under extreme gravitational fields. Although general relativity has been verified within the solar system, it still lacks observational confirmation in strong gravitational fields like black holes. The study of black hole celestial bodies like Gaia BH3 is expected to change this situation.