In less than three thousand years, humanity went from believing that we were the center of a very small universe and under the care of one or more gods, to knowing and partly intuiting that we are an extremely small point in an infinite space, full of accidents. and phenomena that oscillate between the wonder, the threat and the almost incomprehensible. The mysteries of the universe surprise and fascinate in equal measure, pushing the limits of human capacities for science and also for the imagination.
The stars of the solar system, parallel universes or even the most amazing theories about the end of the universe have been the subject of study over the years. But Today in Supercurioso we wanted to reveal to you those milestones that have not yet been resolved and that may always remain in the realm of the unknown. Join us to know the universe and its mysteries.
The 13 most disturbing mysteries of the universe
When we talk about the curiosities of the universe, we enter a field that seems to have no end. 13.8 billion years old brings together the known universe. Furthermore, it spans an incredible 150 billion light-years across. Can you imagine all the mysteries of the universe that man has not yet approached? Certainly a fascinating topic. Ready to delve into the universe and its mysteries? Well let’s get started!
1. Black holes
Few natural phenomena are still as complex and incomprehensible to astronomers and scientists as black holes.
The little that is known about them has served to believe that They are born from dying stars, with a mass that would be equivalent to that of about three to twenty suns. When those big stars die, they collapse, creating a gravitational field so intense that not even light can escape.
But these natural phenomena do not remain static, but grow by absorbing other smaller stars, gas, dust and even other holes. The mass of black holes in the centers of galaxies can exceed 10,000 and 18,000 million times that of the sun. About them, one of the most interesting hypotheses is that of Stephen Hawking, who after working on the subject, came to his own conclusion that they did not exist.
If this topic catches your attention, be sure to read: Hawking quotes.
We well know that gold is one of the most valuable minerals in our culture. Although it is a natural resource, its available quantities are quite limited. The origin of gold is another of the mysteries of the universe.
It is believed that it reached Earth thanks to the impact of asteroids, and that it is an element that may have been created in supernovae. The brief explanation in this regard is that the heavy elements that we know today could have been “cooked”, so to speak, in the nuclear furnaces of the millions of stars that later died and were released into space. It is believed that they would integrate into new stars like the Sun, and then form the planets, including Earth.
3. Himiko’s Cloud
Another of the most incredible mysteries of the universe is the unusual cloud of Himiko. This is a finding that has perplexed the scientific community, because it completely escapes the theoretical models that have built the history of the universe from the Big Bang.
It is an enigmatic cloud of cosmic gases, so large that it is equal to the size of the entire Milky Way. It has been discovered in a very distant universe, 12.8 billion light years from Earth. It is not yet known whether it is a forming galaxy, or ionized gases around a supermassive black hole.
4. Gravitation
We continue with the universe and its mysteries, to tell you about gravitation. It is one of those phenomena that is truly incredible, but has been going on for millions and millions of years.
Scientists have tried for decades with equations and models that could predict gravity, without success. Gravitation is nothing more than the fantastic power that makes the stars “light up!” and that form the orbits of the planets. Interestingly, it is also one of the weaker forces in space.
5. Live on Mars?
And when talking about the universe and its mysteries, on the red planet we find a host of interesting facts and enigmas to solve. Investigations into whether there is life on Mars have occupied the work and dedication of hundreds of scientists around the world.
And it is precisely in that path where we find something particular: Evidence has been found that there is water on Mars, and if so, the red planet may have large oceanic masses that in the past could have supported life.
NASA even believes that it is possible to live on Mars, and for this it develops a mission in which, through a protective field that preserves heat on the surface, the masses of water can emerge again. Amazing! Certain?
6. Diamond Icebergs
Unusual among the mysteries of the universe is the idea of the existence of diamond icebergs. But still, for some scientists it is a real possibility. What is hypothesized is that on planets like Uranus and Neptune there are diamond icebergs floating in oceans of carbon, or liquid diamond.
This would be possible thanks to the extreme pressure conditions inside these planets (diamonds could behave like liquids from a pressure of 11 million atmospheres). Can you imagine a diamond of that size?
7. Smith’s Cloud
The Smith cloud is another of those not so well known secrets of the universe and its mysteries. It is a high-speed cloud composed of gaseous hydrogen and located in the constellation Aquila. Its discovery was made by the astronomy student Gail Bieger, whose maiden name was Smith, in 1963. The curious thing about this cloud is that It is approaching in the direction of our galaxy at a speed of 240 km per second, and its impact will generate destruction and perhaps the emergence of millions of new stars. The good news is that it will arrive in about 40 million years.
8. Dark, very dark
Another of the haunting mysteries of the universe is all the darkness it contains. Our galaxy has about 100 billion stars and it is believed that there must be at least 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Nevertheless, more than 70% would be made up of dark matter: a darkness that we still don’t know much about.
9. The Magnatars
Another of the great and most interesting mysteries of the universe are the unusual magnatars. These are dying stars that are much heavier than the sun, but are compressed and collapsed into a small diameter chunk of matter. They are then left rotating with their magnetic field, at a fascinating speed that is impossible to emulate. Magnatars, also known as magnostars, have a temporary magnetic field that is believed to be thousands of trillions of times stronger than that of planet Earth.
And this is one of the mysteries of the universe that would serve to illustrate the worst dystopian fantasy. On one of the extrasolar planets discovered in recent years, some 63 light-years from Earth, the dominant color is blue, but it is so close to its star and the heat is so intense that it is raining molten glass! This fantasy nightmare was named HD189733b.
11. Life afterlife?
The puzzle over whether life exists on other planets has led science to even come close to what they think aliens would look like. Although there is still no concrete evidence, many are convinced of the existence of life outside of the known. In October 2016, signals were recorded from a star in our galaxy that, according to some astrophysicists, could come from extraterrestrial civilizations., although they are not necessarily trying to communicate with us. It would be stellar pulses coming from some 234 stars of the Milky Way that will have to continue to be observed in the coming years.
12. Human life, the deepest mystery
Perhaps one of the most disturbing mysteries of the universe is our existence, that of human beings. Are we an exception or are we part of a larger family of intelligent beings? Remembering the poetic phrase of Carl Sagan, if we are one of the ways in which the universe contemplates itself, surely it will have several observation points in each galaxy, or at least we hope so, right?
13. Wandering Planets
The curiosities of the solar system seem to be much richer than what we have seen in school or in books and movies on the subject. We close with this trip through the most exciting mysteries of the universe with the existence of wandering planets. Planets in general are a matter still full of mysteries. The volcanoes of Venus, the water on Mars or the sounds of Saturn, still lead thousands of investigations. But the universe and its mysteries have much more than what is known.
Until a few years ago, rogue planets were mere inventions of science fiction. but today many astronomers believe that there may be as many as there are stars. They are planets that are not attached to any solar system and are drifting through space. It is believed that they can form from the gas and dust that gravitates around the stars, and can only be visible when they come between a star and our observatories.
Without a doubt, the universe and its mysteries plunge us into a world of absolute fascination. Not in vain, hundreds of men and women have dedicated their lives to the study of everything that, although we cannot see and fully explore, we can study from a distance, intuit, and with luck, venture out of the atmosphere. If you are, like us, passionate about this subject, do not miss this selection of the best quotes about the science of astronomy Y phrases of the universe.