---
title: "Astrophysicists: There May Be Black Holes Orbiting Our Sun"
description: "Researchers are suggesting that in the orbit of the Milky Way's sun may be a free-floating \"primordial black hole\" — or even more than one."
date: "2019-09-26"
modified: "2019-09-26"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/astrophysicists-black-holes-sun"
categories:
  - "Astrophysics"
  - "Black Holes"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "Black holes"
  - "dark matter"
  - "planet 9"
  - "the digest"
---

# Astrophysicists: There May Be Black Holes Orbiting Our Sun

![Researchers Researchers are suggesting that in the orbit of the Milky Way's sun may be a free-floating "primordial black hole" — or even more than one.are suggesting that the Sun's orbit might have captured a free-floating "primordial black hole" — or even more than one.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/astrophysicists-black-holes-sun.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: nagualdesign/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Black Hole Sun

Scientists have [long speculated](<https://futurism.com/ninth-planet-scientists-evidence>) that a "planet 9," in orbit very far from the Sun, could explain why other bodies in our solar system have strange, hard-to-explain orbits.

Now, a pair of astrophysicists [are suggesting](<https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/26/solar-system-surrounded-swarm-baby-black-holes-scientists-say-10811357/>) a strange twist on that idea: that a black hole — or even a number of them — could be orbiting our Sun right now, way beyond Neptune.

## Primordial

This week, a pair of researchers from Durham University and the University of Illinois at Chicago published [a paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.11090v1>) outlining their theory on the pre-print server *arXiv.* In it, they suggest that the Sun's orbit might have captured a free-floating "primordial black hole" — and it, or they, are still out there, circling the solar system.

"Capture of a freefloating planet is a leading explanation for the origin of Planet 9 and we show that the probability of capturing a \[primordial black hole\] instead is comparable," they wrote.

## Annihilation Signals

Of course, it's just a theory — and a pretty far out one.

But scientists may be able to check their work. Black holes are surrounded by dark matter halos that give off "[annihilation signals](<https://futurism.com/nasa-black-holes-may-allow-us-to-glimpse-dark-matter>)" — and the paper's authors suggest that if any of those signals turn up, it could suggest that the elusive "planet 9" is actually a black hole.

**READ MORE:** [ What if Planet 9 is a Primordial Black Hole?](<https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.11090v1>) \[*arXiv*\]

**More on planet 9:** [There’s New Evidence for the Mysterious “Planet Nine”](<https://futurism.com/ninth-planet-scientists-evidence>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)