It's incredible. It seems that we know a lot about space, but in fact we know almost nothing about it. Given the infinity of the universe, our knowledge of it is simply scanty. Some of the things that we will tell you about some of the planets do not fit in your head. For example, is it possible to imagine ice not melting at 440 degrees Celsius. How do you like the planet of diamonds? Impossible? An interesting site tells about the most terrible and incredible planets of the Universe.

This planet shouldn't exist at all. Its size is almost twice the size of the Earth. Unfortunately, astronomers have not yet been able to understand much about it, it is probably a rocky planet. But the speed of its rotation around the orbit is 8.5 hours, and the temperature on the surface is 2400 degrees Celsius.

Astronomers' photo of this dreaded planet (also called Kepler-1b) is impressive. Like any cosmic body it should reflect the light of its star, but except for a few bright spots it is completely black. TrES-2b has been called the darkest planet known in our universe, reflecting less than 1 percent of light. Scientists claim that the gases surrounding this object absorb light. The temperature on its surface reaches more than 1000 degrees Celsius.

Another freak of the universe is a planet orbiting GJ 436 that is similar in size to Neptune. It's icy heavenly body characterized by a temperature of 440 degrees Celsius. It sounds unbelievable, but it's true. The freezing of water occurs due to strong gravity, which is why the planet attracts all the water to itself, so intensely that the water has the density of ice and remains in a solid state.

This strange planet It has a blue color that is pleasing to the eye. Close in size to Jupiter, the planet is surrounded by an atmosphere filled with silicon particles. That is why it looks like this, but do not flatter yourself, silicon particles on the planet rush with wind speed, that is, more than 6000 km / h.

This planet is very close to its star, so the year on it lasts 1.09 Earth days. The distance between them is more than 40 times less than between the Earth and the Moon. The planet WASP-12b will soon disappear from the universe because it is slowly falling into its star.

On this planet, probably, many women would like to be. But more on that later. 55 Cancri is a binary system created by two dwarf stars. Looking at the picture, you might think that the planet is quite cold, but due to its proximity to the star, its temperature is 2700 degrees Celsius. Women will be delighted to know that diamonds make up 30 percent of the mass of this celestial body.

This rocky planet does not have good living conditions. Another object orbiting very close to its star. According to scientists, the temperature on it exceeds 2300 degrees Celsius! This is enough to melt the rocks floating in space above the planet. When night falls over the planet, the temperature drops so much that the molten stones solidify and fall on this celestial body as a stone rain.

Just like GJ 436 b, this celestial body is also covered in hot ice. Huge pressure does not allow ice to melt, even at a temperature of 300 degrees Celsius.


Our Universe holds many secrets, but thanks to modern telescopes, scientists manage to lift the veil of the unknown.

While mankind has been observing the stars since ancient times, it is only recently that we have made incredible strides in the study of outer space. Using mathematics, telescopes and satellites, we continue to study the Universe surrounding our small blue planet. However, there remains much more to be learned, much we do not know and cannot explain. Most of the universe is full mysterious phenomena beyond the scope of our understanding. Curious to travel among the stars and find out what puzzles scientists?

Here are 25 Strange Things Happening in Outer Space That Can't Be Explained.

1. Zombie Star

When stars explode, they usually die and remain dead. But recently, scientists discovered a supernova that exploded, died, but then exploded again. Such zombie stars, scientists believe, can only partially explode while keeping the core intact, and then explode several times before finally dying.

ASASSN-15lh is the largest star explosion ever detected by astronomers. They think it's 20 times brighter than all of ours. Milky Way. They are not sure which galaxy the light from the explosion came from, but they believe it is 3.8 billion light-years away. They are still not sure what exactly and how could produce such a release of energy.

1991 VG is a mysterious object discovered by astronomer James Scotti. Only 10 meters in diameter, it has the same orbit as the Earth, and many believed that it could be an asteroid, an alien spaceship or an old Russian probe.

4. Signal "Wow!"

In 1977, astronomer Jerry Ehman discovered a radio signal from space. It captured a 72-second burst of radio waves. He circled them on a piece of paper, next to which he wrote “Wow!”, so the signal got its name. For decades, no one knew where he came from, but many believed that they were aliens. However, a recent theory suggests that the radio waves were released by a pair of comets.

5. Dark stream

Clusters of galaxies near the constellations Centaurus and Hydra are moving at a speed of a million kilometers per hour in a certain direction. This is called the dark stream. However, the dark stream is debatable because it technically shouldn't exist, and scientists can't explain why it's there. Its existence also points to something outside our universe that is pulling these clusters of galaxies.

In 2015, astronomers saw that something strange was happening to the star KIC 8462852. Its brightness was constantly changing, and many have suggested that this may be caused by the presence of an alien megastructure. But upon closer examination, the scientists concluded that it is possible that a cloud of dust orbiting the star blocks the light every 700 days or so. More research is needed.

7. Re-ionization of the Universe

While the main theory of the creation of the universe is Big Bang, after which there was a period of time called the Reionization Era, which remains obscure. It is believed that this period lasted 1 billion years until galaxies and stars appeared that reionized the hydrogen in the universe. The problem, however, is that all the galaxies and stars known today would not have enough energy to do this.

8 Rectangular Galaxy

In 2012, astronomers discovered a rather unusual galaxy called LEDA 074886. What is so strange about it? The fact is that such rectangular galaxies have never been discovered before. Scientists thought that this shape could be explained by the effect of a gravitational lens, but this was considered implausible.

9. Baryon matter

Astronomers have trouble finding dark matter and dark energy in the universe, but they also can't figure out baryonic matter. Baryon matter is the atoms and ions that make up the planets, stars, dust and gas in the universe. Most of them mysteriously disappeared, and scientists are not sure what caused it.

10. Dark energy

Dark energy is a hypothetical material that scientists claim is part of an ever-expanding universe, but no one really understands what it is. Recently, some astronomers have come out with the claim that dark energy does not exist at all, and that the universe is not accelerating as we once thought.

11. The mysterious moon of Saturn

Named Peggy, the mysterious moon in one of Saturn's rings continues to baffle scientists. It was noticed recently, in 2013, and it is believed that the moon formed in rings, but no one is 100% sure about this. When Cassini crashed into the planet, researchers gained more data about the moon that could help unlock its secrets.

12. Gamma Splash

In the 1960s during cold war, American satellites detected bursts of radiation coming from space. The bursts were intense, brief, and from an unknown source. Now we know that these are gamma-ray bursts. They are short and long and sometimes happen due to the formation of a black hole. However, they do not cease to be a mystery. Why do bursts appear more often in irregular galaxies than in spiral or elliptical galaxies, and why are they usually few and not many?

13. Rings of Saturn

Thanks to the Cassini probe, we have learned a lot about Saturn's rings. But there's still a lot we can't explain. While we know that its rings are made of water and ice, we don't know how they formed or how old they are.

14. UFO sighting by Major Gordon Cooper

Major Gordon Cooper was an astronaut on the Mercury spacecraft that was sent into Earth orbit. While he was in space, Cooper claimed to have seen a glowing green object approaching his capsule. He alerted the tracking station in Muchea, Australia, and they tracked the object on radar. Nobody can explain what it was.

15. Great Attractor

Originally discovered in the 1970s, the Great Attractor remains a mystery because it is located in what is known as the “Zone of Avoidance.” The "Zone of Avoidance" is the middle of our galaxy, where there is so much dust and gas that we can't see anything underneath. The only way to see anything - use x-rays and infrared light. The Great Attractor is, in fact, a huge cluster of galaxies that attracts us to itself. Fortunately, scientists do not believe that we will ever get close to it.

16. Cataclysmic Variables

Cataclysmic variables are rather unique and strange objects in outer space. These are white dwarf stars that are in close proximity to red giants. In fact, they are so close that the red giants are ripping off white dwarf all gas.

17. White holes

If black holes have blown your mind, then you should prepare for white holes. While black holes suck everything in and don't let matter escape, white holes can be old black holes that regurgitate whatever was once held inside. But this is just one theory. Another theory claims that white holes could be a portal between dimensions.

18 Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Whether you believe it or not, there is much about Jupiter's existing vortex, the Great Red Spot, that we cannot explain. While we know it's been there for 150 years and is spinning at 643 km/h, scientists aren't sure what creates this vortex or why it has a reddish hue.

Mars is simply the master of all sorts of mysteries. Many scientists believe that Mars had a much more extended CO2 atmosphere. But, if so, the question remains: where did she go? Some people think that the absence magnetic field led to the fact that the solar winds dispersed the bulk of the atmosphere in space. As for the planet's remaining atmosphere, most of it is made up of methane, but scientists don't know where the methane came from. There is also the question of water and life on Mars. Puzzled scientists are actively trying to get to the bottom.

20. Dark matter

Dark matter remains one of the biggest mysteries in outer space. First conceptualized in 1977, it is believed to make up 27 percent of the universe and is essentially behind all the invisible matter in space. But there's a lot we don't know about her yet.

21. Giant void

Scientists have discovered a place in the universe they call the "Giant Void". It turns out it lives up to its name. At 1.8 billion light-years across, it is a completely empty patch of space without any galaxies. It is located at a distance of about 3 billion light years from Earth. Scientists are not sure what the void really is and how it became void.

22. Hot Jupiters

Hot Jupiters are gas giants like Jupiter but much hotter. They orbit very close to their stars. Since there is nothing like it in our solar system, scientists thought it was something strange. But, in fact, it is our system that can be considered strange, since Hot Jupiters are much more common than first thought. These giants are surrounded by many mysteries, such as how they formed and why they orbit so close to their stars.

23. Tank on the Moon

UFO hunters claimed to have found a tank-shaped object in a black-and-white photograph of the Moon's surface. It could be a tank, but most likely just an oddly shaped boulder.

24. Black holes

There are many things we know about black holes, such as that their mass is enormous and even light cannot escape them, and they are probably the product of an exploding star. However, many questions still confuse scientists. For example, how does a black hole suck in gas and dust orbiting around it, even though it should always keep them in orbit? In addition, although we are familiar with small black holes formed from exploding stars, scientists are still not sure how supermassive black holes form.

25. Explosions of stars

When stars explode, they turn into giant fireballs called supernovae. But it remains a mystery how this happens. While astronomers have used computer simulations to better understand the mechanics of the process, what happens inside a star at the moment of the explosion is still a mystery.

Back in the early 20th century, scientists believed our galaxy was unique. Today, astronomers estimate that the visible part of the universe alone contains more than 125 billion (stop and think about that number) galaxies.

How many stars are in each? Trillions. Their mass does not lend itself to real understanding - even theoretical physicists hide behind equations.

Imagine now that somewhere out there, so far away that we don’t even see it, there is an incredibly huge something. And this something gradually attracts our part of the Universe to itself. Scientists call this "something" the Great Attractor. And among themselves they call the most terrible thing in space!

motion search

From the introduction, you roughly understood how majestic and immense the Universe is. You can move on to the details: in the vicinity of the solar system, theoretical physicists have counted approximately 130 superclusters of galaxies. All this is within a radius of 1.5 billion light years. It's all moving. But where?

Where are we flying

The Milky Way, in the company of the galaxies of the constellation Virgo and the supercluster of galaxies of the constellation Coma Veronica, and even an immense amount of cosmic matter that has not yet been explained, flies at a terrible speed of 600 kilometers per second. We are pulled by an incredible, unimaginable source of gravity. What will happen when we all finally get there? It's not clear yet.

frightening calculations

Once physicists realized that everything was moving, they began to calculate the mass of the ultimate source of gravity. According to the very first estimates, the total mass of this object exceeds that of several tens of thousands of large galaxies.

funnel of fate

And now the entire part of the Universe visible to us is gradually drawn into this very funnel. Scientists cannot yet imagine how much matter this cosmic anomaly has already collected. In 1986, the physicist Alan Dressler, amazed by his calculations, called it the Great Attractor.

Yes, what is it!

The modern development of technology simply does not allow scientists to "see" what exactly is in such a distance. The nature of the object is controversial and constantly discussed.

A few years ago, a group of MIT physicists suggested that the Great Attractor is a relic curvature of space-time that formed at the dawn of the Universe.

We will ask you once again to stop and consider all of the above. Just try to imagine a time when the universe itself did not exist!

Grand Magnet

After years of study, scientists can only say one thing: The Great Attractor is the largest supercluster of galaxies in the universe. But even this incredible mass of galaxies is not enough to explain the attraction!

Physicists suggest that outside the part of space that we see, there is still some kind of grandiose structure that is part of the Great Attractor. Maybe there's an incredible amount hiding there dark matter, which is still unknown to us.

unknown factor

The fog is also added by the fact that recently scientists were able to simulate the process of the formation of the Universe on supercomputers.

The equations included all the forces known to science, but as a result, the model did not show any attractor. In other words, this structure simply cannot exist in nature. And in general, what causes galaxies to “flock together”? Perhaps galaxies are not just collections of matter. Perhaps they are even intelligent. Maybe.

multiverse

Scientists are leaning more and more towards the multiverse theory. Our universe is just one of these universes that do not touch each other.

This theory could indirectly explain the existence of the Great Attractor: what if our Universe “leaked” and now we are all simply sucked into the neighboring Universe by a kind of pressure drop?

Of course, all this sounds very strange - but the very existence of the Great Attractor simply defies comprehension.

How many times on a warm summer evening we raised our heads up and admired the twinkling dots in the sky. How many times have you dreamed of being outside the Earth and seeing with your own eyes the frozen and beautiful Universe. It has been enticing man for thousands of years, forcing him to overcome gravity and make a breakthrough in scientific thinking.

The universe is beautiful. But she is not as sweet and safe as it seems at first glance.

The sun is our life and our death

The sun is the heart of our system. It's huge nuclear reactor, the energy of which is enough for life to flourish on the whole planet. The boiling sea of ​​gas fascinates with its beauty, but it is a deadly beauty.

The surface temperature of the Sun reaches five thousand degrees Celsius, and the temperature at its center can be more than tens of millions of degrees.

Loops of burning gas - a consequence of the electrical activity of the planet - break out of the Sun for thousands of kilometers. These prominences are not just a beautiful sight. They carry a huge amount of radiation into space, from which the Earth's magnetic field protects us.

The energy that one prominence produces is greater than the energy of 10 million terrestrial volcanoes. And the planet Earth will easily pass through such a loop, leaving still free space.

If someday airlines agree to make interplanetary flights, those who wish will have to fly to the Sun for 20 years.

The sun is our life and our death. Today, thanks to its energy, thousands of life forms flourish on our planet. But everything eventually ends. The sun will die, most likely turning into a white dwarf. Even if it does not swallow our planet, then its light and heat will not be enough to support life on Earth.

Comets are deadly messengers of life

Comets are free vagrants of our Universe. These are small cosmic bodies that revolve around stars. The comet is a beautiful sight. The gaze is drawn to her "tail". But this is only dust and evaporating ice, which is heated by the rays of the Sun.

Scientists substantiate the theory that life on our planet was born thanks to comets. After all, where there is water, there is life. It is believed that the comets that crashed into the Earth during its formation brought water and biological material with them, which became the building base for all life on Earth.

But today comets are a threat to our existence. If one of them crashes into the Earth, life in all its forms could end forever.

Asteroids are insidious killers

Asteroids are the nomads of our solar system. These are fragments of dead planets. These are bodies whose mass is less than that of the planets, they have irregular shape, no atmosphere, but there may be satellites.

A meeting with an asteroid can be fatal for the planet. Both small and large, they pose a threat to humanity. Large asteroids are easier to detect, but even if a space body with a diameter of more than three kilometers crashes into the Earth, an entire civilization could die.

Scientists suggest that this is how the dinosaurs on Earth became extinct.

Supernova - death and rebirth

Stars are like people, they live and die. When there is not enough fuel for a nuclear reaction, the star becomes unstable. Her core shatters, and deadly energy bursts forth.

The death of a star is an unusual and very dangerous sight. For many millions of kilometers, the upper layers of the star and radiation are ejected into space. Emissions of deadly particles would destroy all life in its path.

If the explosion of a star were relatively close to the Earth, we would not be able to survive the catastrophic consequences of the effects of radiation on living beings.

But nothing in the universe goes to waste. There is order in this chaos. During the explosion of a supernova, new chemical elements. These particles are construction material for new life forms. Calcium in our bones, iron in the blood, air in the lungs - these are the elements of a once dead star, the death of which gave life to new forms of habitation.

Black hole - incredible force of gravity

A black hole is the result of a dead star with a huge mass. Black holes are the most mysterious inhabitants of space. The attraction of this object is so great that nothing can escape from its embrace, not even light. Scientists can only guess what is inside the black hole.

According to many theories, there is no time, space and matter inside, and all the laws of physics cease to exist. Many people think that a black hole pulls in everything that comes in its path. But it is not so. There is a certain distance - the event horizon. If you get further beyond its limits, nothing can escape from the deadly embrace of a black hole.

There is an assumption that our entire galaxy can be inside a huge black hole. But to imagine this, fantasy alone is not enough, and the mind can be shaken.

Pulsar - a cosmic mystery

Pulsars can be called distant relatives of black holes, because they were also formed after the death of a star. The core of the star shrunk so much that it turned out to be a small bright star.

Despite their size, pulsars have powerful energy. The radiation on the pulsar is greater than on the Sun.

The pulsar rotates incredibly fast - about 30 revolutions per second. It is unimaginably dense. Just a teaspoon of a substance can weigh hundreds of millions of tons. The magnetic field of a pulsar is several trillion times greater than that of the Earth.

Nebulae - the frozen music of the universe

Nebulae are frozen clouds of cosmic gas and dust. This is an incredibly beautiful sight. The nebulae can rightly be considered a factory for the production of stars, since they contain all the necessary elements for building new luminaries. They are just waiting for the wave from the explosion of the star to push them into motion.

Nebulae are located at incredible distances from Earth - thousands of light years. This is so far away that it is difficult for our minds to imagine these numbers.

Quasars - chronicles of bygone light years

A quasar is the most distant and deadliest object in the universe. It is brighter than hundreds of galaxies. At its center is a huge black hole that is larger than billions of suns. Quasars release an incredible amount of energy. There are suggestions that quasars can radiate up to a hundred times more energy than all the stars in our galaxy, and this is in a relatively small area of ​​​​space.

A quasar moves through space at an incredible speed - about 80% of the speed of light.

Quasars are a window into the past. After all, their light has been reaching us for millions of years. Perhaps some of them no longer exist.

The universe is beautiful. It fascinates with secrets, power and scale. Who are we in cosmic terms? Not even ants or grains of sand.

Our solar system located on the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy far from important events And breaking news. Even if in an instant she disappears, no one will notice.

But I really want to believe that humanity will be able to discover the secrets of space, find new worlds and remain in the history of our Universe.