Black hole: Tiny black hole called ‘The Unicorn’ found ‘near’ Eart

Astronomers have discovered a tiny black hole relatively near to Earth. It has been dubbed ‘The Unicorn‘ and has a mass around three times that of the Sun. The smallest black holes to have previously been discovered are at least six times the mass of the Sun, so the newly found one could fall into a new category.

But do not be fooled by its small size – it still has a gravitational pull which can consume anything around it.The black hole was discovered by researchers at the Ohio State University, which said it was “hiding in plain sight“.

It is located 1,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Monoceros.

The Unicorn has a companion star which is a red giant, “meaning that the two are connected by gravity.”

Experts cannot see the black hole but were able to determine it is there by the way the light from the star changes when it passes behind it.

Researchers from Ohio State University realized something was tugging and changing the shape of the red giant – something known as tidal distortion.

Todd Thompson, co-author of the study, chair of Ohio State’s astronomy department and university distinguished scholar, said: “Just as the moon’s gravity distorts the Earth’s oceans, causing the seas to bulge toward and away from the moon, producing high tides, so does the black hole distort the star into a football-like shape with one axis longer than the other.

“The simplest explanation is that it’s a black hole – and in this case, the simplest explanation is the most likely one.”

Efforts to find extremely low mass black holes have increased in recent years as astronomers hope to unravel the mysteries of the strange entities.