V4641 Sgr: The Closest Black Hole Candidate

Explanation: An object many astronomers believe is a black hole has been found only 1500 light-years from Earth, making it the closest black hole candidate . Although dramatic explosions emanate from the object, it is far enough away so that we are in no danger. Pictured above , V4641 was imaged just after emitting an outburst in the radio band. Jets , which lasted only minutes, are visible. V4641 is the fourth known microquasar , a miniature version of the massive, matter spewing black holes thought to exist in the centers of galaxies . The explosions are not thought to emanate from within the black hole , a location where neither matter nor information can escape, but from around the black hole , where matter from its companion star may be heating up as it falls in. Astronomers are working to understand why V4641 acts strangely even for a black hole , as the explosions it creates fade within minutes, and appear at different times in different bands of light .