The closest black hole to Earth is Gaia-BH1 (also discovered by Gaia), which is 1,560 light-years away. Gaia-BH1 has a mass around 9.6 times that of the sun, making it considerably smaller than this newly discovered black hole.

Earth is not just tucked into a planet-size black hole or even one the size of the solar system. If that were the case, scientists would have noticed, Field told Live Science. There would be observable signatures of the black hole's spinning.

There is consensus that supermassive black holes exist in the centres of most galaxies. The presence of a black hole can be inferred through its interaction with other matter and with electromagnetic radiation such as visible light.

Spaghettification: A black hole would stretch an astronaut's body into a thin ribbon, since the gravity pulling on their feet is so much stronger than on their head. One-way door: A black hole's event horizon is the “point of no return”. Nothing can escape from within, not even light.