Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole in the Milky Way, named Gaia BH3, which is about 1,926 light-years away.

Gaia BH3 has a mass nearly 33 times that of the sun, positioning it as the second-closest known black hole to Earth.

The discovery was enabled by the European Space Agency's Gaia space telescope, with additional ground-based observatory confirmations.

Observations suggest that the black hole formed from a metal-poor star, challenging previous beliefs about the origins of massive black holes.

The finding offers new insights into how high-mass black holes can form from metal-poor stars, potentially revising astronomical theories.

This transformational discovery is reshaping the scientific understanding of black holes and will be further explored when the full Gaia dataset is released in late 2025.

The research, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, underscores the significant contributions of the Gaia mission to astronomy and astrophysics.