Philippa Kaur
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Astronomers have found the closest known black hole to Earth
The closest black hole yet found is just 1,560 light-years from Earth, a new study reports. The black hole, dubbed Gaia BH1, is about 10 times the mass of the sun and orbits a sunlike star.
Most known black holes steal and eat gas from massive companion stars. That gas forms a disk around the black hole and glows brightly in X-rays. But hungry black holes are not the most common ones in our galaxy. Far more numerous are the tranquil black holes that are not mid-meal, which astronomers have dreamed of finding for decades. Previous claims of finding such black holes have so far not held up (SN: 5/6/20; SN: 3/11/22).
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So astrophysicist Kareem El-Badry and colleagues turned to newly released data from the Gaia spacecraft, which precisely maps the positions of billions of stars (SN: 6/13/22). A star orbiting a black hole at a safe distance won’t get eaten, but it will be pulled back and forth by the black hole’s gravity. Astronomers can detect the star’s motion and deduce the black hole’s presence.
Out of hundreds of thousands of stars that looked like they were tugged by an unseen object, just one seemed like a good black hole candidate. Follow-up observations with other telescopes support the black hole idea, the team reports November 2 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Gaia BH1 is the nearest black hole to Earth ever discovered — the next closest is around 3,200 light-years away. But it’s probably not the closest that exists, or even the closest we’ll ever find. Astronomers think there are about 100 million black holes in the Milky Way, but almost all of them are invisible. “They’re just isolated, so we can’t see them,” says El-Badry, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.
The next data release from Gaia is due out in 2025, and El-Badry expects it to bring more black hole bounty. “We think there are probably a lot that are closer,” he says. “Just finding one … suggests there are a bunch more to be found.” More
- in Humans
Egyptology continues to astound 100 years after Tutankhamun was found
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb was a revelation, but 100 years later new scientific methods are painting an even richer picture of the ancient Egyptians
Humans
| Leader
2 November 2022
Shutterstock/El Greco 1973
IT IS one of those strange quirks of history that Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb exactly 100 years after Jean-François Champollion cracked ancient Egypt’s hieroglyphics. Champollion’s breakthrough in 1822 unlocked the civilisation’s rich written archive, while Carter’s discovery in 1922 offered an unadulterated view of pharaonic opulence.
It is unlikely 2022 will be remembered as a pivotal year in Egyptology, but that doesn’t mean the field is stuck in a rut. As we report on in our feature “How technology is revolutionising our understanding of ancient Egypt”, archaeologists now have the tools of modern science at their fingertips. … More - in Humans
Immersive Tutankhamun exhibition reveals the grandeur of his treasures
Beyond King Tut, curated by the National Geographic Society, surrounds visitors with large-scale projections and animations of some of the thousands of artefacts unearthed from the boy king’s tomb
Humans
2 November 2022
By Alexis Wnuk
Tutankhamun’s gold funerary maskTimothy Norris
A HUNDRED years ago, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his workers were exploring tombs in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt. They discovered a plastered-up doorway. This was to prove one of the most spectacular archaeological finds of all time: the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Beyond King Tut: The immersive experience, an exhibition curated by the National Geographic Society, features large-scale projections and animations of some of the 5398 artefacts unearthed.
AdvertisementTimothy Norris
The main image, top, shows Tutankhamun’s iconic gold funerary mask, looming large on the two-storey gallery walls. Below it are two pieces of the jewellery found in the tomb: a pendant (pictured above) that depicts Horus, the god of the sky who took the form of a falcon; and a collar made of gold and coloured glass (pictured below), with a falcon on each end.
Timothy Norris
A large boat in the centre of the room (pictured below) evokes the ancient Egyptian belief that the dead journeyed by boat to the afterlife.
Timothy Norris
Beyond King Tut is on display at Pier 36 in New York City until 1 January 2023 and touring cities in the US and Canada. The physical objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb are housed in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Beyond King Tut
National Geographic SocietyMore on these topics: More
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Tutankhamun’s Secrets review: Lively TV documentary spills more beans
Dismissing environmentalists with an ‘anti-growth’ label is wrongThe idea that environmentalists are part of the Tories’ imaginary “anti-growth coalition” is grotesque. Conserving the environment and economic progress are not mutually incompatible, says Graham Lawton More
- in Humans
Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World is an engaging update
The story of Tutankhamun and his tomb still amazes us. Palaeopathologist Bob Brier’s new book is an accessible guide to the story, but doesn’t break new ground
Humans
2 November 2022
By Jo Marchant
Tutankhamun’s tomb dazzled Howard Carter when he saw it for the first timeNick Brundle Photography/Getty images
Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World
Bob Brier (Oxford University Press)
WE ARE so familiar with the story of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s 3300-year-old tomb that it has acquired an almost mythical status. On 26 November 1922, Howard Carter, a British archaeologist, broke through a sealed door under Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and poked his candle into the darkness beyond.
Luckily, it can bear repeating, and to coincide with the centenary of the find, … More - in Humans
Don’t Miss: Great Egyptology from Tutankhamun to Cleopatra’s daughter
Spotlight on plankton, the ocean’s fascinating, bite-sized creaturesEvery night, plankton take a journey to shallower waters to feed, prompting predators to follow in search of a very small, but tasty, snack. These images are taken from a new book, Planktonia, illuminating their daily ascent More
- in Humans
Hieroglyphs: Unlocking ancient Egypt review: Two hundred years on
Cracking Egypt’s hieroglyphic code was one of humanity’s greatest feats. A riveting new exhibition at the British Museum celebrates the 200th anniversary
Humans
2 November 2022
By Joshua Howgego
A papyrus containing ancient “spells”The Trustees of the British Museum
Hieroglyphs: Unlocking ancient Egypt
Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery
The British Museum, London. Closes 19 February 2023, then tours to selected UK venues
STEPPING from the British Museum’s bright main atrium into a darkened space, I am confronted by a huge array of cubes. One face of each cube shows a hieroglyph, which you can rotate to find its meaning. I can see all sorts of symbols, from scarabs, owls and hawks to abstract patterns.
It is fun to explore, but also bewildering, with no obvious link between … More
