List of nearest known black holes

Short description: Closest gravitational singularities to Earth

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

This is a list of known black holes that are close to the Solar System.

It is thought that most black holes are solitary, but black holes in binary or larger systems are much easier to detect.[1] Solitary black holes can generally only be detected by measuring their gravitational distortion of the light from more distant objects. As of February 2022, only one isolated black hole has been confirmed, OGLE-2011-BLG-0462, around 5,200 light-years away.[2]

The nearest known black hole is Gaia BH1, which was discovered in September 2022 by a team led by Kareem El-Badry. Gaia BH1 is 1,560 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus.[3]

For comparison, the nearest star to the Sun (Proxima Centauri) is about 4.24 light-years away, and the Milky Way galaxy is approximately 100,000 light-years in diameter.

## Contents

* 1 List
* 2 Nearest black hole record holders
* 3 See also
* 4 References

## List

Distance | System | Component  | Notes and additional references

|
|
|

(ly)  | (kpc)  | Designation  | Description  | Right ascension[4]
(Epoch J2000.0)  | Declination[4]
(Epoch J2000.0)  | Disco­very
date[5] | Desig­nation  | Stel­lar
class | Mass
(M☉)
1,560±10 | 0.478±0.005 | Gaia BH1 (TIC 125470397)  | Binary system with orbit t=185.63 d and eccentricity e=0.45[3] |  17h 28m 41.09s | −00° 34′ 51.93″ | 2022  | A  | BH | 9.78 | [3]
B  | G | 0.93
1,840±30 | 0.5906±0.0058 | Gaia BH3 (Gaia DR3 4318465066420528000)  | Binary system with orbit t=11.6 yr and eccentricity e=0.7291  |  19h 39m 18.72s | +14° 55′ 54.2″ | 2024  | A  | BH | 32.70±0.82 | [6]
B  | G | 0.76±0.05
3,800±80 | 1.16±0.02 | Gaia BH2 (Gaia DR3 5870569352746779008)  | Binary system with orbit t=1276.7 d and eccentricity e=0.518  |  13h 50m 16.728s | −59° 14′ 20.42″ | 2023  | A  | BH | 8.93 | [7][8]
B  | K III | 1.07
3,800+2,700
−2,000 | 1.18+0.82
−0.63 | Gaia18ajz | Candidate for isolated black hole detected by microlensing[9] |  18h 30m 14.460s | −08° 13′ 12.756″ | 2024  |  | BH | 12.0+14.9
−5.4 | Most probable solution parameters shown. Another solution has a mass of 5.6 MSol.
4,700±800 | 1.44±0.25 | A0620-00 (V616 Mon)  | Binary star system with orbit t=7.75 h  |  06h 22m 44.503s[10] | −00° 20′ 44.72″[10] | 1986  | A  | BH | 11.0±1.9 | Low-mass X-ray binary
B  | K[11] | 0.5±0.3 |
5,150±590 | 1.58±0.18 | MOA-2011-BLG-191 or OGLE-2011-BLG-0462 | Isolated black hole detected by microlensing[2] |  17h 51m 40.2082s | −29° 53′ 26.50″ | 2022  |  | BH | 7.1±1.3 | First confirmed black hole detected via microlensing
5,400+6,900
−1,900 | 1.7±1.4 | GRS 1124-683 (GU Muscae)  | Binary star system with orbit t=10.38 h  |  11h 26m 26.60s | −68° 40′ 32.3″ | 1991 Jan 20 | A  | BH | 6.95±1.1 |
B  | K | 0.9±0.3 |
5,720±300 | 1.7±0.1 | XTE J1118+480 |  |  11h 18m 11s | 48° 02′ 13″ | 2000  | A  | BH | 6–6.5 |
B  | M | 0.2 |
7,300±200 | 2.25±0.08 | Cygnus X-1 (Cyg X-1)  | Binary star system with orbit t=5.6 d  |  19h 58m 21.676s[12] | +35° 12′ 05.78″[12] | 1971 April–May  | Cyg X-1  | BH | 15±1 | The first X-ray source widely accepted to be a black hole.
HDE 226868  | O[13] | 30±10 |
7,800±460 | 2.39±0.14 | V404 Cygni | Binary star system with orbit t=6.5 d  |  20h 24m 03.83s[14] | +33° 52′ 02.2″[14] | 1989 May 22  | A  | BH | 9 | First black hole to have an accurate parallax measurement of its distance from the Solar System
B  | K[4] | 0.7 | Early K giant star
8,100±1,000 | 2.49±0.30 | GRO J0422+32 | Binary star system with orbit t=5.09 h  |  04h 21m 42.723s | +32° 54′ 26.94″ | 1992 Aug 5  | A  | BH | 3.97±0.95 |
B  | M1 | 0.5±0.1 |
8,150 | 2.5 | MACHO-96-BLG-5 | Candidate isolated black hole detected by microlensing[15] |  18h 05m 2.50s | −27° 42′ 17″ | 2001  |  | BH | 5.30+1.14
−0.96 | Very strong candidate, parameters listed are of best fit
8,800±2,300 | 2.7±0.7 | GS 2000+25 |  |  20h 02m 50s | +25° 14′ 11″ | 1988  | A  | BH | 7.5 |
B  | M | 0.5 |
9,260+6,330
−5,450 | 2.84+1.94
−1.67 | Gaia18cbf  | Candidate isolated mass-gap black hole detected by microlensing[16] |  16h 04m 38.862s | −41° 06′ 17.32″ | 2022  |  | BH | 2.65+5.09
−1.48 | Best fit. Second-best fit has a mass of 1.71 MSol, which would make it a neutron star.
11,000±980 | 3.4±0.3 | Swift J1727.8-1613  | Detected via a transient X-ray event[17] |  17h 27m 46.0s[17] | −16° 12′ 5.3″[17] | 2023  | A  | BH  | 3.12±0.10 | [18]
B  | Template:StarK | <0.78 | [18]
11,100±700 | 3.4±0.2 | Cygnus X-3 | Binary star system with orbit t=4.8 h  |  20h 32m 25.766s | +40° 57′ 28.26″ | 1967  | Cyg X-3  | BH | 2.4+2.1
−1.1
[19] |
V1521 Cyg  | WN  | 10.3+3.9
−2.8
[19] |
11,400 | 3.5 | MACHO-98-BLG-6  | Candidate isolated mass-gap black hole detected by microlensing[15] |  17h 57m 32.80s | −28° 42′ 45″ | 2001  |  | BH | 3.17+0.52
−0.48 | Very strong candidate, parameters listed are of best fit
11,900±3,600 | 3.7±1.1 | GRO J1655-40 | Binary star system with orbit t = 2.6 d  |  16h 54m 00.137s | −39° 50′ 44.90″ | 1994  | A  | BH | 5.31±0.07 |
V1033 Sco  | F5IV | 1.9±0.3 |
15,700 | 4.8 | MACHO-99-BLG-22  | Candidate isolated black hole detected by microlensing[20] |  18h 05m 05.28s | −28° 34′ 41.70″ | 2002  |  | BH | 7.5 | Very strong candidate
25,600±600 | 7.86±0.2 | Sagittarius A* | Supermassive black hole  |  17h 45m 40.0409s | −29° 0′ 28.118″ | 1974  |  | BH | 4,154,000 ± 14,000 | Center of the Galaxy
29,700±2,700 | 9.1±0.8 | 4U 1543-475 | Binary star system with orbit t = 26.8 h  |  15h 47m 08.277s | −47° 40′ 10.28″ | 1971  | A  | BH | 9.4±2.0 |
B  | A2V | 2.7±1.0 |

## Nearest black hole record holders

This is a succession of black holes that have been known as the nearest black hole.

Nearest black hole titleholders  Date  | Distance  | Name  | Mass  | Type  | Notes  |

|
|
|
|
|
|

2022—  | 1,600 ly (1.5×1016 km; 9.4×1015 mi)  | Gaia BH1 | 9.62 solar masses (1.913×1031 kg; 4.22×1031 lb)  | Main-sequence star with dormant compact mass binary  | First dormant black hole discovered, first Sun-like star in black hole binary system discovered: First detected via positional shifts of visible companion  | [21][22][23]
1986–2022  | 3,000 ly (2.8×1016 km; 1.8×1016 mi)  | V616 Monocerotis (A0620-00)  | 5.86 M☉ (1.165×1031 kg; 2.57×1031 lb)  | Visible variable star X-ray binary system  | First observed in X-rays  | [24][25][23]
1975–1986  | 6,070 ly (5.74×1016 km; 3.57×1016 mi)  | Cygnus X-1 | 14.8 M☉ (2.94×1031 kg; 6.5×1031 lb)  | X-ray binary system  | First black hole discovered: first observed in 1964 in X-rays, first speculated as black hole in 1972, first confirmed black hole in 1975, accepted as a black hole by 1990  | [26][27][23]

## See also

* List of black holes
* List of most massive black holes
* Lists of astronomical objects
* List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs
* NGC 3201 – a globular cluster with many black holes
* NGC 7727 – a galaxy with the closest confirmed binary black hole at 89 million light-years away

## References

1. ↑ "ESO Instrument Finds Closest Black Hole to Earth". European Southern Observatory. May 6, 2020. https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2007/.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sahu, Kailash C. (Jan 31, 2022). "An Isolated Stellar-mass Black Hole Detected through Astrometric Microlensing". The Astrophysical Journal 933 (1): 83. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac739e. Bibcode: 2022ApJ...933...83S.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 El-Badry, Kareem; Rix, Hans-Walter; Quataert, Eliot; Howard, Andrew W.; Isaacson, Howard; Fuller, Jim; Hawkins, Keith; Breivik, Katelyn et al. (2023). "A Sun-like star orbiting a black hole". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 518 (1): 1057–1085. doi:10.1093/mnras/stac3140. Bibcode: 2023MNRAS.518.1057E.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "The One Hundred Nearest Star Systems". GSU. 2007-09-17. http://www.astro.gsu.edu/RECONS/TOP100.posted.htm.
5. ↑ Before 1900: earliest certain recorded observation. 1900–1930: first catalogued. After 1930: earliest trigonometric or spectroscopic parallax.
6. ↑ Panuzzo, P. (2024). "Discovery of a dormant 33 solar-mass black hole in pre-release Gaia astrometry". The Astrophysical Journal 686: L2. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202449763. Bibcode: 2024A&A...686L...2G.
7. ↑ Tanikawa, Ataru; Hattori, Kohei; Kawanaka, Norita; Kinugawa, Tomoya; Shikauchi, Minori; Tsuna, Daichi (2023). "Search for a Black Hole Binary in Gaia DR3 Astrometric Binary Stars with Spectroscopic Data". The Astrophysical Journal 946 (2): 79. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acbf36. Bibcode: 2023ApJ...946...79T.
8. ↑ El-Badry, Kareem et al. (February 2023). "A red giant orbiting a black hole". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 521 (3): 4323–4348. doi:10.1093/mnras/stad799. Bibcode: 2023MNRAS.521.4323E.
9. ↑ "Uncovering the invisible: A study of Gaia18ajz, a candidate black hole revealed by microlensing". Astronomy & Astrophysics 694: A94. 2025. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451046. Bibcode: 2025A&A...694A..94H.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Liu, Q.Z.; Paradijs, J.; van den Heuvel, E.P.J. (July 2007), "A Catalogue of low-mass X-ray binaries in the Galaxy, LMC, and SMC (Fourth edition)", Astronomy and Astrophysics 469 (2): 807–810, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077303, Bibcode: 2007A&A...469..807L
11. ↑ Yungelson, L.; Lasota, J.-P. (May 2008), "Evolution of low-mass binaries with black-hole components", New Astronomy Reviews 51 (10–12): 860–868, doi:10.1016/j.newar.2008.03.017, Bibcode: 2008NewAR..51..860Y
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 van Leeuwen, Floor (November 2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics 474 (2): 653–664, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357, Bibcode: 2007A&A...474..653V
13. ↑ Sota, A.; Apellániz, J. Maíz; Walborn, N.R.; Alfaro, E.J.; Barbá, R.H.; Morrell, N.I.; Gamen, R.C.; Arias, J.I. (April 2011), "The Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey. I. Classification System and Bright Northern Stars in the Blue-violet at R ~ 2500", The Astrophysical Journal Supplement 193 (2): 24–74, doi:10.1088/0067-0049/193/2/24, Bibcode: 2011ApJS..193...24S
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Cutri, Roc M.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Beichman, Charles A.; Carpenter, John M.; Chester, Thomas; Cambresy, Laurent; Evans, Tracey E. et al. (2003). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: 2MASS All-Sky Catalog of Point Sources (Cutri+ 2003)". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues 2246: II/246. Bibcode: 2003yCat.2246....0C. http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=II/246.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Abdurrahman, Fatima N.; Stephens, Haynes F.; Lu, Jessica R. (2021-05-01). "On the Possibility of Stellar Lenses in the Black Hole Candidate Microlensing Events MACHO-96-BLG-5 and MACHO-98-BLG-6". The Astrophysical Journal 912 (2): 146. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/abee83. ISSN 0004-637X. Bibcode: 2021ApJ...912..146A.
16. ↑ Kruszyńska, K.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.; Rybicki, K. A.; Maskoliūnas, M.; Bachelet, E.; Rattenbury, N.; Mróz, P.; Zieliński, P. et al. (2022-06-01). "Lens parameters for Gaia18cbf - a long gravitational microlensing event in the Galactic plane". Astronomy and Astrophysics 662: A59. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142602. ISSN 0004-6361. Bibcode: 2022A&A...662A..59K. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022A&A...662A..59K.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Page, K. L.; Dichiara, S.; Gropp, J. D.; Krimm, H. A.; Parsotan, T. M.; Williams, M. A.; Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Team (2023-08-01). "GRB 230824A: Swift detection of a burst". GRB Coordinates Network 34537: 1. Bibcode: 2023GCN.34537....1P. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023GCN.34537....1P/abstract.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Sánchez, D. Mata; Torres, M. a. P.; Casares, J.; Muñoz-Darias, T.; Padilla, M. Armas; Yanes-Rizo, I. V. (2025-01-01). "Dynamical confirmation of a black hole in the X-ray transient Swift J1727.8-1613" (in en). Astronomy & Astrophysics 693: A129. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202451960. ISSN 0004-6361. Bibcode: 2025A&A...693A.129M. https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2025/01/aa51960-24/aa51960-24.html.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Zdziarski, A. A.; Mikołajewska, J.; Belczyński, K. (2013). "Cyg X-3: A low-mass black hole or a neutron star". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 429: L104–L108. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/sls035. Bibcode: 2013MNRAS.429L.104Z.
20. ↑ Mereghetti, S.; Sidoli, L.; Ponti, G.; Treves, A. (2022-07-01). "X-Ray Observations of the Isolated Black Hole Candidate OGLE-2011-BLG-0462 and Other Collapsed Objects Discovered through Gravitational Microlensing". The Astrophysical Journal 934 (1): 62. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac7965. ISSN 0004-637X. Bibcode: 2022ApJ...934...62M.
21. ↑ Whitehead, Nadia (4 November 2022). "Astronomers Discover Closest Black Hole to Earth". Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/astronomers-discover-closest-black-hole-earth.
22. ↑ Staff (4 November 2022). "Dormant Stellar-Mass Black Hole Detected 1,600 Light-Years Away". Sci-News. https://www.sci.news/astronomy/gaia-bh1-11364.html#google_vignette.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Becky Smethurst (15 August 2024). The closest KNOWN black holes to Earth (only three have ever held the title). Dr. Becky. 5xLiw9yJu1k on YouTube.
24. ↑ Cain, Fraser (21 March 2016). "Where is the closest black hole?". Universe Today. phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2016-03-closest-black-hole.html#google_vignette.
25. ↑ van Grunsven, Theo F. J.; Jonker, Peter G.; Verbunt, Frank W. M.; Robinson, Edward L. (16 August 2017). "The mass of the black hole in 1A 0620–00, revisiting the ellipsoidal light curve modelling". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 472 (2): 1907–1914. December 2017. doi:10.1093/mnras/stx2071. Bibcode: 2017MNRAS.472.1907V.
26. ↑ MacRobert, Alan (21 November 2011). "Cygnus X-1, Exactly". Sky & Telescope. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/cygnus-x-1-exactly/.
27. ↑ Buongiorno, Caitlyn (3 March 2021). "Cygnus X-1: The black hole that started it all". Astronomy. https://www.astronomy.com/science/cygnus-x-1-the-black-hole-that-started-it-all/.

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Black holes

Types|

* Schwarzschild
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* Charged
* Virtual
* Kugelblitz
* Primordial
* Planck particle

Size|

* Micro
* Extremal
* Electron
* Stellar
* Microquasar
* Intermediate-mass
* Supermassive
* Active galactic nucleus
* Quasar
* Blazar

Formation|

* Stellar evolution
* Gravitational collapse
* Neutron star
* Related links
* Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit
* White dwarf
* Related links
* Supernova
* Related links
* Hypernova
* Gamma-ray burst
* Binary black hole

Properties|

* Gravitational singularity
* Ring singularity
* Theorems
* Event horizon
* Photon sphere
* Innermost stable circular orbit
* Ergosphere
* Penrose process
* Blandford–Znajek process
* Accretion disk
* Hawking radiation
* Gravitational lens
* Bondi accretion
* M–sigma relation
* Quasi-periodic oscillation
* Thermodynamics
* Immirzi parameter
* Schwarzschild radius
* Spaghettification

Issues|

* Black hole complementarity
* Information paradox
* Cosmic censorship
* ER=EPR
* Final parsec problem
* Firewall (physics)
* Holographic principle
* No-hair theorem

Metrics|

* Schwarzschild (Derivation)
* Kerr
* Reissner–Nordström
* Kerr–Newman
* Hayward

Alternatives|

* Nonsingular black hole models
* Black star
* Dark star
* Dark-energy star
* Gravastar
* Magnetospheric eternally collapsing object
* Planck star
* Q star
* Fuzzball

Analogs|

* Optical black hole
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Lists|

* Black holes
* Most massive
* Nearest
* Quasars
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Related|

* Black Hole Initiative
* Black hole starship
* Compact star
* Exotic star
* Quark star
* Preon star
* Gamma-ray burst progenitors
* Gravity well
* Hypercompact stellar system
* Membrane paradigm
* Naked singularity
* Quasi-star
* Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
* Timeline of black hole physics
* White hole
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