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Space

Tiny black holes hiding in the sun could trace out stunning patterns

If our solar system and even our sun contain tiny black holes formed just after the big bang, they should be orbiting in elaborate patterns

By Leah Crane

24 May 2024

Primordial black holes crossing stars, orbit figures.

Primordial black holes could take on intricate orbits inside the sun and similar stars

Vitorio A. De Lorenci

Our solar system might be chock-full of tiny black holes, with some tracing out beautiful patterns resembling Spirograph drawings as they orbit inside the sun.

Invisible dark matter seems to account for the vast majority of mass in the universe, but scientists don’t know what exactly it is. Hypothetical black holes that formed shortly after the big bang, called primordial black holes, are one dark matter candidate. If they do exist, our solar system should be full of them.

David Kaiser

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