Astronomers have made a remarkable discovery in the Milky Way galaxy: they’ve identified the most massive stellar black hole known to date, dubbed Gaia BH3.

This behemoth, nicknamed the “sleeping giant,” boasts a mass nearly 33 times that of the sun and resides 1,926 light-years away in the Aquila constellation, making it the second-closest black hole to Earth.

Its closest counterpart, Gaia BH1, lies about 1,500 light-years away and has a mass nearly 10 times that of the sun.

The detection of Gaia BH3 was unexpected, uncovered during a review of data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope.

Astronomers noticed a peculiar motion caused by Gaia BH3’s gravitational pull on a nearby companion, CNN reported.

While many dormant black holes are challenging to detect due to their lack of companions, some interact with nearby stars, emitting bright X-rays visible through telescopes.

In this case, the wobbling movement of an old giant star revealed its orbital dance with the dormant black hole.

Written by B.C. Begley