Monoceros

Far far away, in a constellation called Monoceros, 3000 light years away from us, lives an unusual star known as HD 45166 - preparing to become the most magnetic powerhouse to exist in the known Universe.

Not to worry, however: This black hole is 1,600 light-years away, in the constellation Ophiuchus; the next nearest known black hole is about 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros.

"We nicknamed this black hole 'the Unicorn' partly because V723 Mon is in the Monoceros constellation - which translates to unicorn - and partly because it is a very unique system" in terms of the black hole's mass and relative closeness to Earth, said Ohio State University astronomy doctoral student Tharindu Jayasinghe, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The nebula is located in the Monoceros, or Unicorn, constellation.

The alpha Monocerotids have been dubbed unicorn meteors because they radiate from the constellation Monoceros, the Greek word for unicorn, according to EarthSky.