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Space

The sun could contain a tiny black hole that formed in the big bang

Black holes may be hiding within stars and their extra mass could help explain odd gravitational effects in the universe ascribed to dark matter

By Alex Wilkins

12 January 2024

The sun

The sun and other stars might look and act differently if they held black holes

Nixx Photography/Shutterstock

Stars could have tiny black holes hiding inside them that were formed during the big bang. This idea, first dreamed up by Stephen Hawking, might also explain the origins of dark matter, researchers have found.

In 1971, physicist Hawking was looking at a problem involving an apparent lack of high-energy particles coming from the sun. He wondered whether this solar neutrino problem could be solved if the sun hosted a small black hole that was formed…

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