A Space Mission to Earth's Nearest Black Hole: Reality or Science Fiction?

arXiv:2607.10982 · gr-qc, astro-ph.HE · Submitted 2026-07-13 · Read on arXiv

Cosimo Bambi

gr-qc, astro-ph.HE

Submitted: 2026-07-13

Comments: 12 pages, 3 figures. Talk given at the workshop "Frontier Research in Astrophysics - V" (Palermo, Italy, 15-20 June 2026)

License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

Terminology

• Accuracy — 3× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Microlensing — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• alpha — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode

Sources

• The Nuclear Equation of State and Neutron Star Masses
• Dynamical Constraints On Alternatives To Massive Black Holes In Galactic Nuclei
• Testing black hole candidates with electromagnetic radiation
• Tests of general relativity with GW150914
• Theoretical Physics Implications of the Binary Black-Hole Mergers GW150914 and GW151226
• Tests of General Relativity with the Binary Black Hole Signals from the LIGO-Virgo Catalog GWTC-1
• Improved Constraints on Non-Kerr Deviations from Binary Black Hole Inspirals Using GWTC-4 Data
• Testing general relativity with the reflection spectrum of the supermassive black hole in 1H0707$-$495
• Towards precision tests of general relativity with black hole X-ray reflection spectroscopy
• Testing the Kerr Black Hole Hypothesis with GX 339-4 by a combined analysis of its thermal spectrum and reflection features
• Testing General Relativity with NuSTAR data of Galactic Black Holes
• Testing Gravity with Black Hole X-Ray Data
• Gravitational Test Beyond the First Post-Newtonian Order with the Shadow of the M87 Black Hole
• First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. VI: Testing the Black Hole Metric
• Horizon-scale tests of gravity theories and fundamental physics from the Event Horizon Telescope image of Sagittarius A$^*$
• An interstellar mission to test astrophysical black holes
• An interstellar mission to the closest black hole?
• Stellar-Mass Black Holes
• The Neutron Star and Black Hole Initial Mass Function
• Synthetic catalog of black holes in the Milky Way

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• Limits of the Rastall--Einstein Equivalence: Matter-Action Compatibility, FLRW Dynamics, and Exceptional Sectors
• Boson star-black hole binaries: initial data and head-on collisions