Space still remains an incomprehensible mystery for all humanity. It is incredibly beautiful, full of secrets and dangers, and the more we study it, the more we discover new amazing phenomena. We have collected for you the 10 most interesting phenomena that occurred in 2017.
1. Sounds inside the rings of Saturn
The Cassini spacecraft recorded sounds inside the rings of Saturn. The sounds were recorded using an Audio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) device, which detects radio and plasma waves, which are then converted into sounds. As a result, scientists “heard” something completely different from what they expected.
The sounds were recorded using an Audio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) device, which detects radio and plasma waves, which are then converted into sound. As a result, we can "hear" dust particles hitting the instrument's antennas, the sounds of which contrast with the usual "whooshes and squeaks" created by charged particles in space.
But as Cassini dove into the void between the rings, everything suddenly became strangely quiet.
The planet, which is an icy ball, was discovered using a special technique and was named OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb.
Using microlensing, it was possible to discover a new planet, approximately equal in mass to the Earth and even revolving around its star at the same distance as the Earth from the Sun. However, that's where the similarities end - the new planet is likely too cold to be habitable, as its star is 12 times smaller than our Sun.
Microlensing is a technique that makes it easier to detect distant objects by using background stars as a "backlight". When the star being studied passes in front of a larger and brighter star, then big star for a short time it “highlights” the smaller one and simplifies the process of monitoring the system.
The Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its flyby through the narrow gap between the planet Saturn and its rings on April 26, 2017 and transmitted unique images to Earth. The distance between the rings and the upper layers of the atmosphere of Saturn is about 2,000 km. And Cassini was supposed to pass through this “gap” at a speed of 124 thousand km/h. At the same time, as protection from ring particles that could damage it, Cassini used a large antenna, turning it away from the Earth and towards obstacles. That is why he could not contact Earth for 20 hours.
A team of independent auroral researchers has discovered an as-yet unexplored phenomenon in the night sky over Canada and named it "Steve." More precisely, this name for the new phenomenon was suggested by one of the users in the comments to the photo of the yet unnamed phenomenon. And the scientists agreed. Taking into account the fact that the official scientific communities have not yet properly responded to the discovery, the name will be assigned to the phenomenon.
“Big” scientists do not yet know exactly how to characterize this phenomenon, although the group of enthusiasts who discovered Steve initially called it a “proton arc.” They did not know that proton lights are not visible to the human eye. Preliminary tests showed that Steve turned out to be a hot stream of fast-flowing gas in the upper atmosphere.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has already sent special probes to study Steve and discovered that the air temperature inside the gas flow rises above 3000 degrees Celsius. At first, scientists couldn't even believe it. The data showed that at the time of measurements, Steve, 25 kilometers wide, was moving at a speed of 10 kilometers per second.
5. New planet suitable for life
An exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth could be the new title holder. the best place to search for signs of life beyond the solar system." According to scientists, the LHS 1140 system in the constellation Cetus may be even more suitable for searching for extraterrestrial life than Proxima b or TRAPPIST-1.
LHS 1140 (GJ 3053) is a star located in the constellation Cetus at a distance of approximately 40 light years from the Sun. Its mass and radius are 14% and 18% solar, respectively. The surface temperature is about 3131 Kelvin, which is half that of the Sun. The star's luminosity is 0.002 that of the Sun. LHS 1140 is estimated to be approximately 5 billion years old.
6. The asteroid that almost made it to Earth
Asteroid 2014 JO25 with a diameter of about 650 m approached Earth in April 2017, and then flew away. This relatively large near-Earth asteroid was only four times farther from Earth than the Moon. NASA classified the asteroid as "potentially hazardous." All asteroids larger than 100 meters in size and approaching the Earth closer than 19.5 times the distance from it to the Moon automatically fall into this category.
In the picture - Pan, natural satellite Saturn. Three-dimensional photography was made using the anaglyph method. You can get a stereo effect using special glasses with red and blue filters.
Pan opened on July 16, 1990. Researcher Mark Shoulter analyzed photographs taken by the Voyager 2 robotic probe in 1981. Experts have not yet agreed on why Pan has this shape.
8. First photos of the Trappist-1 habitable system
The discovery of a potentially habitable planetary system of the star Trappist-1 was the event of the year in astronomy. Now NASA has published the first photographs of the star on its website. The camera took one frame per minute for an hour, and then the photos were compiled into animation:
The animation size is 11x11 pixels and covers an area of 44 square arcseconds. This is equivalent to a grain of sand at arm's length.
Recall that the distance from Earth to the star Trappist-1 is 39 light years.
9. Date of collision between Earth and Mars
American geophysicist Stephen Myers from the University of Wisconsin suggested that Earth and Mars could collide. This theory is by no means new, but scientists recently confirmed it by finding evidence in an unexpected place. This is all due to the “butterfly effect”.
It's the same phenomenon. A butterfly fluttering over the Indian Ocean could affect weather conditions over North America a week later.
This idea is not new. But Myers' team found evidence in an unexpected place. The rock formation in Colorado consists of sedimentary layers that indicate climate change, which was caused by fluctuations in the amount of sunlight reaching the planet. According to scientists, this is the result of changes in the Earth's orbit.
Over at least the last 50 million years, the Earth's orbit has cycled from circular to elliptical every 2.4 million years. This created climate change. But for 85 million years, this periodicity was 1.2 million years, since the Earth and Mars interacted slightly, as if “pulling” each other, which is natural to expect in a chaotic system.
The discovery will help understand the connection between orbital changes and climate. But other potential consequences are a little more alarming: billions of years from now, there is a very small chance that Mars could crash into Earth.
A giant vortex of hot, glowing gas extends over 1 million light years through the very center of the Perseus cluster. Matter in the Perseus cluster region is formed from gas whose temperature is 10 million degrees, which makes it glow. A unique NASA photo allows you to view the galactic vortex in detail. It extends over a million light years through the very center of the Perseus cluster.
Although in recent decades science has been moving forward by leaps and bounds, people's knowledge about space is still approaching zero. And it is not surprising that scientists are constantly discovering new, sometimes seemingly fantastic, phenomena in the Universe. The “hottest” ten such discoveries made recently will be discussed in this review.
1. “Cosmic shield” of humanity
NASA researchers have discovered a surprising and beneficial byproduct of radio transmissions: a man-made "VLF (low frequency) bubble" around the Earth that protects people from certain types of radiation. Earth also has naturally occurring Van Allen radiation belts, in which the sun's energetic particles become "trapped" in the Earth's magnetic field.
But now scientists believe that the accumulated electromagnetic radiation The Earth has inadvertently created a kind of radioactive barrier that deflects some of the high-energy cosmic particles that continually cause damage to the Earth.
2.Galaxy PGC 1000714
Galaxy PGC 1000714 may be the "most unique" ever observed by scientists. This is a Hoag-type object with 2 rings around it (in some ways it is similar to Saturn, but only the size of a galaxy). Only 0.1% of galaxies have one ring, but PGC 1000714 is unique in that it boasts two. The 5.5-billion-year-old galaxy's core consists mostly of old red stars. Surrounding it is a large, much younger (0.13 billion years) outer ring, in which hotter, younger blue stars shine.
When scientists looked at the galaxy at several wavelengths, they discovered a completely unexpected imprint of a second, inner ring, which is much closer to the core in terms of age and is also not connected to the outer ring at all.
3. Exoplanet Kelt-9b
The hottest exoplanet discovered on this moment, hotter than many stars. On the surface of the newly described Kelt-9b, the temperature rises to 3,777 degrees Celsius, and this is on its dark side. And on the side facing the star, the temperature is approximately 4,327 degrees Celsius - almost the same as on the surface of the Sun. The star in which the planet is located, Kelt-9, is an A-type star located 650 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.
Type A stars are among the hottest, and this particular individual is a "baby" by galactic standards, being only 300 million years old. But as the star grows and expands, its surface will eventually engulf Kelt-9b.
4. Collapse inward
It turns out that black holes can form without titanic supernova explosions or the collision of two incredibly dense objects such as neutron stars. Apparently, stars can “collapse in on themselves,” turning into black holes, relatively quietly. The Large Binocular Telescope study found thousands of potential "failed supernovae."
For example, the star N6946-BH1 had enough mass to go supernova (about 25 times more than the Sun). But the images show that it only briefly glowed a little brighter and then simply disappeared into the darkness.
5. Magnetic fields of the Universe
Many celestial bodies produce magnetic fields, but the largest fields ever discovered are due to gravitationally bound galaxy clusters. A typical cluster spans about 10 million light years (by comparison, the Milky Way is 100,000 light years across). And these gravitational titans create incredibly powerful magnetic fields. Clusters are essentially collections of charged particles, gas clouds, stars and dark matter, and their chaotic interactions create real “electromagnetic witchcraft.”
When the galaxies themselves pass too close to each other and touch, the flammable gases at their boundaries are compressed, eventually shooting out arcing “relics” that extend out to distances of up to six million light years, potentially even larger than the cluster that gave birth to them.
6. Accelerated development of galaxies
The early Universe is full of mysteries, one of which is the existence of a bunch of mysteriously "fattened" galaxies that should not have existed long enough to gain such size. These galaxies contained hundreds of billions of stars (a decent number even by today's standards) when the universe was only 1.5 billion years old. And if we look even further into space-time, astronomers have discovered new type hyperactive galaxies, which “fed” these early anomalously developed galaxies.
When the Universe was a billion years old, these progenitor galaxies were already producing an insane amount of stars at a rate 100 times faster than the star formation rate in the Milky Way. Researchers have found evidence that even in the sparsely populated young Universe, galaxies merged.
7. A new type of catastrophic event
The Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered something strange while peering into the early universe. Chandra astronomers observed a mysterious source of X-rays at a distance of 10.7 billion light years. It suddenly became 1000 times brighter and then disappeared into darkness over the course of about a day. Astronomers had detected similar bizarre X-ray bursts before, but this one was 100,000 times brighter in the X-ray range.
Giant supernovae, neutron stars or white dwarfs have been tentatively listed as possible culprits, but evidence does not support any of these events. The galaxy where the explosion occurred is much smaller and far from previously discovered sources, so astronomers hope they have found "an entirely new type of catastrophic event."
8. Orbit X9
Black holes are generally thought to destroy anything that dares to get close to them, but the recently discovered white dwarf X9 is the closest orbital body ever to a black hole. X9 is three times closer to the black hole than the Moon is to Earth, so it completes a full orbit in just 28 minutes. This means that the black hole is spinning white dwarf around you faster than the average pizza delivery.
X9 lies 15,000 light-years from Earth in the globular star cluster 47 Tucanae, part of the constellation Tucana. Astronomers think X9 was likely a large red star before a black hole pulled it towards itself and sucked out all its outer layers.
9. Cepheids
Cepheids are cosmic “children” ranging in age from 10 to 300 million years. They pulsate and their regular changes in brightness make them ideal landmarks in space. Researchers found them in the Milky Way, but they weren't sure what they were (after all, Cepheids are located near the galactic core, and are almost invisible behind huge clouds of interstellar dust).
Astronomers observing the core in infrared light discovered a surprisingly barren "desert" devoid of young stars. Several Cepheids lie near the center of the galaxy, and just outside this region a huge dead zone extends 8,000 light-years in all directions.
10. "Planetary Trinity"
So-called "hot Jupiters" are balls of gas like Jupiter, but they are closer in structure to stars than they should be and orbit their stars in closer orbits than even Mercury. Scientists have been studying these strange celestial bodies for the past 20 years, detecting about 300 of these "hot Jupiters", all of them orbiting their stars alone.
But in 2015, researchers from the University of Michigan finally confirmed what seemed impossible - a hot Jupiter with a companion. In the WASP-47 system, a hot Jupiter and two more completely revolve around a star. different planets- a larger Neptune-shaped, as well as a smaller, much denser, rocky “super-Earth”.
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- Head: Andreeva Yulia Vyacheslavovna
Introduction
Many countries have long-term space exploration programs. The central place in them is occupied by the creation of orbital stations, since it is from them that the chain of the largest stages in the mastery of humanity begins outer space. A flight to the Moon has already been carried out, months-long flights on board interplanetary stations are successfully taking place, automatic vehicles have visited Mars and Venus, and Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have been explored from flyby trajectories. Over the next 20-30 years, the capabilities of astronautics will increase even more.
Many of us dreamed of becoming astronauts as children, but then thought about more earthly professions. Is going into space really an impossible dream? After all, space tourists have already appeared, perhaps someday anyone will be able to fly into space, and a childhood dream will come true?
But if we go on a space flight, we will be faced with the fact that long time you will have to be in a state of weightlessness. It is known that for a person accustomed to the gravity of the earth, being in this state becomes a difficult test, and not only physically, because many things happen in zero gravity completely differently than on Earth. Unique astronomical and astrophysical observations are carried out in space. Satellites, automatic space stations, and devices in orbit require special maintenance or repair, and some satellites that have reached the end of their life must be destroyed or returned from orbit to Earth for refurbishment.
Can a fountain pen write in zero gravity? Is it possible to measure weight in a spacecraft cabin using a spring or lever scale? Does water leak out of the kettle if you tilt it? Does a candle burn in zero gravity?
Answers to such questions are contained in many sections studied in school course physics. When choosing the topic of the project, I decided to bring together the material on this topic, which is contained in different textbooks, and give comparative characteristics the occurrence of physical phenomena on Earth and in space.
Goal of the work: compare the occurrence of physical phenomena on Earth and in space.
Tasks:
- Make a list of physical phenomena whose course may differ.
- Study sources (books, internet)
- Make a table of phenomena
Relevance of the work: some physical phenomena occur differently on Earth and in space, and some physical phenomena are better manifested in space, where there is no gravity. Knowledge of the features of processes can be useful for physics lessons.
Novelty: similar studies have not been carried out, but in the 90s an educational film about mechanical phenomena was shot at the Mir station
An object: physical phenomena.
Item: comparison of physical phenomena on Earth and in space.
1. Basic terms
Mechanical phenomena are phenomena that occur with physical bodies when they move relative to each other (the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, the movement of cars, the swing of a pendulum).
Thermal phenomena are phenomena associated with heating and cooling physical bodies(kettle boiling, fog forming, water turning into ice).
Electrical phenomena are phenomena that arise from the appearance, existence, movement and interaction of electric charges (electricity, lightning).
It is easy to show how phenomena occur on Earth, but how can one demonstrate the same phenomena in zero gravity? For this I decided to use fragments from the “Lessons from Space” film series. These are very interesting films, filmed back in the day. orbital station"World". Real lessons from space are taught by pilot-cosmonaut, hero of Russia Alexander Serebrov.
But, unfortunately, few people know about these films, so another goal of creating the project was to popularize “Lessons from Space,” created with the participation of VAKO Soyuz, RSC Energia, and RNPO Rosuchpribor.
In zero gravity, many phenomena occur differently than on Earth. There are three reasons for this. First: the effect of gravity does not manifest itself. We can say that it is compensated by the force of inertia. Second: in weightlessness the Archimedes force does not operate, although Archimedes’ law is also fulfilled there. And third: surface tension forces begin to play a very important role in weightlessness.
But even in zero gravity the same ones work physical laws natures that are true both for the Earth and for the entire Universe.
The state of complete absence of weight is called weightlessness. Weightlessness, or the absence of weight in an object, is observed when, for some reason, the force of attraction between this object and the support disappears, or when the support itself disappears. simplest example the occurrence of weightlessness - free fall inside a closed space, that is, in the absence of air resistance. Let's say a falling plane is itself attracted by the earth, but a state of weightlessness arises in its cabin, all bodies also fall with an acceleration of one g, but this is not felt - after all, there is no air resistance. Weightlessness is observed in space when a body moves in orbit around some massive body, planet. This Roundabout Circulation can be considered as a constant fall onto the planet, which does not occur due to circular rotation in orbit, and there is also no atmospheric resistance. Moreover, the Earth itself, constantly rotating in orbit, falls and cannot fall into the sun, and if we did not feel the attraction from the planet itself, we would find ourselves in weightlessness relative to the attraction of the sun.
Some phenomena in space occur in exactly the same way as on Earth. For modern technologies weightlessness and vacuum are not a hindrance... and on the contrary, it is preferable. It is impossible to achieve such things on Earth high degrees vacuum, as in interstellar space. Vacuum is needed to protect the metals being processed from oxidation, and the metals do not melt; the vacuum does not interfere with the movement of bodies.
2. Comparison of phenomena and processes
|
Earth |
Space |
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1.Measurement of masses |
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Cannot be used |
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Cannot be used |
|
|
|
Cannot be used |
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2.Is it possible to stretch the rope horizontally? |
|
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The rope always sags due to gravity.
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The rope is always free
|
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3. Pascal's law. The pressure exerted on a liquid or gas is transmitted to any point without changes in all directions. |
|
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On Earth, all drops are slightly flattened due to gravitational force.
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Performs well for short periods of time, or in a mobile state.
|
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4.Balloon |
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flies up |
Won't fly |
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5. Sound phenomena |
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IN outer space the sounds of music will not be heard because For sound to propagate, a medium (solid, liquid, gaseous) is needed. |
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The candle flame will be round because... no convection currents
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7. Using the watch |
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|
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Yes, they work if the speed and direction of the space station are known. They work on other planets too |
|
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Cannot be used |
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B. Mechanical pendulum clocks |
Cannot be used. You can use the watch with a winder and a battery. |
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D. Electronic watch |
Can be used |
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8. Is it possible to get a bump? |
|
|
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Can |
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9. Thermometer works |
works |
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A body slides down a hill due to gravity
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The item will remain in place. If you push, you can ride forever, even if the slide is over |
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10. Is it possible to boil a kettle? |
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Because There are no convection currents, then only the bottom of the kettle and the water around it will heat up. Conclusion: you need to use a microwave |
|
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12. Spread of smoke |
|
|
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Smoke cannot spread because... no convection currents, distribution will not occur due to diffusion |
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Pressure gauge works
|
Works
|
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Spring stretch. |
No, it doesn't stretch |
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Ballpoint pen writes |
The pen doesn't write. Writes with a pencil
|
Conclusion
I compared the occurrence of physical mechanical phenomena on Earth and in space. This work can be used to compile quizzes and competitions, for physics lessons when studying certain phenomena.
While working on the project, I became convinced that in zero gravity many phenomena occur differently than on Earth. There are three reasons for this. First: the effect of gravity does not manifest itself. We can say that it is compensated by the force of inertia. Second: in weightlessness the Archimedes force does not operate, although Archimedes’ law is also fulfilled there. And third: surface tension forces begin to play a very important role in weightlessness.
But even in weightlessness, the same physical laws of nature work, which are true both for the Earth and for the entire Universe. This became the main conclusion of our work and the table that I ended up with.
Human exploration of space began some 60 years ago, when the first satellites were launched and the first cosmonaut appeared. Today, the study of the vastness of the Universe is carried out using powerful telescopes, but direct study of nearby objects is limited to neighboring planets. Even the Moon is a big mystery for humanity, an object of study by scientists. What can we say about larger-scale cosmic phenomena. Let's talk about ten of the most unusual of them...
Galactic cannibalism
The phenomenon of eating their own kind is inherent, it turns out, not only in living beings, but also in cosmic objects. Galaxies are no exception. So, the neighbor of our Milky Way, Andromeda, is now absorbing smaller neighbors. And inside the “predator” itself there are more than a dozen neighbors that have already been eaten.
The Milky Way itself is now interacting with the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy. According to astronomers' calculations, the satellite, now located at a distance of 19 kpc from our center, will be absorbed and destroyed in a billion years. By the way, this form of interaction is not the only one; often galaxies simply collide. After analyzing more than 20 thousand galaxies, scientists came to the conclusion that all of them have encountered others at some point.
Quasars
These objects are a kind of bright beacons that shine to us from the very edges of the Universe and testify to the times of the birth of the entire cosmos, turbulent and chaotic. The energy emitted by quasars is hundreds of times greater than the energy of hundreds of galaxies. Scientists hypothesize that these objects are giant black holes in the centers of galaxies distant from us.
Initially, in the 60s, quasars were objects that had strong radio emission, but at the same time extremely small angular dimensions. However, it later turned out that only 10% of those who are considered to be quasars met this definition. The rest did not emit strong radio waves at all.
Today, objects that have variable radiation are considered to be quasars. What quasars are is one of the biggest mysteries of the cosmos. One theory says that this is a nascent galaxy, in which there is a huge black hole that is absorbing surrounding matter.
Dark matter
Experts were unable to detect this substance, or even see it at all. It is only assumed that there are some huge accumulations of dark matter in the Universe. To analyze it, the capabilities of modern astronomical technical means are not enough. There are several hypotheses about what these formations may consist of - ranging from light neutrinos to invisible black holes.
According to some scientists, no dark matter exists at all; over time, people will be able to better understand all aspects of gravity, and then an explanation for these anomalies will come. Another name for these objects is hidden mass or dark matter.
There are two problems that gave rise to the theory of the existence of unknown matter - the discrepancy between the observed mass of objects (galaxies and clusters) and the gravitational effects of them, as well as the contradiction in the cosmological parameters of the average density of space.
Gravitational waves
This concept refers to distortions of the space-time continuum. This phenomenon was predicted by Einstein in his general theory relativity, as well as other theories of gravity. Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light and are extremely difficult to detect. We can only notice those that are formed as a result of global cosmic changes such as the merger of black holes.
This can only be done using huge specialized gravitational-wave and laser interferometric observatories such as LISA and LIGO. A gravitational wave is emitted by any accelerated moving matter; in order for the amplitude of the wave to be significant, a large mass of the emitter is required. But this means that another object then acts on it.
It turns out that gravitational waves are emitted by a pair of objects. For example, one of the most powerful sources of waves are colliding galaxies.
Vacuum energy
Scientists have found that the vacuum of space is not at all as empty as is commonly believed. A the quantum physics directly states that the space between the stars is filled with virtual subatomic particles, which are constantly destroyed and formed again. It is they who fill all space with anti-gravity energy, causing space and its objects to move.
Where and why is another big mystery. Nobel laureate R. Feynman believes that vacuum has such enormous energy potential that in a vacuum, the volume of a light bulb contains so much energy that it is enough to boil all the world's oceans. However, until now, humanity considers the only way to obtain energy from matter, ignoring the vacuum.
Micro black holes
Some scientists have questioned the entire theory big bang, according to their assumptions, our entire Universe is filled with microscopic black holes, each of which does not exceed the size of an atom. This theory by physicist Hawking arose in 1971. However, babies behave differently than their older sisters.
Such black holes have some unclear connections with the fifth dimension, influencing space-time in a mysterious way. It is planned to further study this phenomenon using the Large Hadron Collider.
For now, it will be extremely difficult to even test their existence experimentally, and studying their properties is out of the question; these objects exist in complex formulas and in the minds of scientists.
Neutrino
This is what they call neutrals. elementary particles, having practically no specific gravity of their own. However, their neutrality helps, for example, to overcome a thick layer of lead, since these particles interact weakly with the substance. They pierce everything around, even our food and ourselves.
Without visible consequences for people, 10^14 neutrinos released by the sun pass through the body every second. Such particles are born in ordinary stars, inside of which there is a kind of thermonuclear furnace, and during the explosions of dying stars. Neutrinos can be seen using huge neutrino detectors located deep in the ice or at the bottom of the sea.
The existence of this particle was discovered by theoretical physicists; at first the law of conservation of energy itself was even disputed, until in 1930 Pauli suggested that the missing energy belonged to a new particle, which in 1933 received its current name.
exoplanet
It turns out that planets do not necessarily exist near our star. Such objects are called exoplanets. It is interesting that until the early 90s, humanity generally believed that planets outside our Sun could not exist. By 2010, more than 452 exoplanets were known in 385 planetary systems.
The objects range in size from gas giants, which are comparable in size to stars, to small rocky objects that orbit small red dwarfs. The search for a planet similar to Earth has not yet been successful. It is expected that the introduction of new means for space exploration will increase man's chances of finding brothers in mind. Existing methods observations are precisely aimed at detecting massive planets like Jupiter.
The first planet, more or less similar to Earth, was discovered only in 2004 in the Altar star system. It makes a full revolution around the star in 9.55 days, and its mass is 14 times more mass of our planet. The closest to us in terms of characteristics is Gliese 581c, discovered in 2007, with a mass of 5 Earth's.
It is believed that the temperature there is in the range of 0 - 40 degrees, theoretically there may be water reserves there, which implies life. The year there lasts only 19 days, and the star, much colder than the Sun, appears 20 times larger in the sky.
The discovery of exoplanets allowed astronomers to make an unambiguous conclusion that the presence of planetary systems in space is a fairly common phenomenon. So far, most of the detected systems are different from solar ones, this is explained by the selectivity of detection methods.
Microwave space background
This phenomenon, called CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background), was discovered in the 60s of the last century, and it turned out that weak radiation is emitted from everywhere in interstellar space. It is also called cosmic microwave background radiation. It is believed that this may be a residual phenomenon from the Big Bang, which started everything around.
It is CMB that is one of the most compelling arguments in favor of this theory. Precision instruments were even able to measure the temperature of the CMB, which is a cosmic -270 degrees. The Americans Penzias and Wilson received the Nobel Prize for their accurate measurement of radiation temperature.
Antimatter
In nature, much is built on opposition, just as good opposes evil, and particles of antimatter are in opposition to the ordinary world. The well-known negatively charged electron has its negative twin brother in antimatter - the positively charged positron.
When two antipodes collide, they annihilate and release pure energy, which is equal to their total mass and is described by the famous Einstein formula E=mc^2. Futurists, science fiction writers and simply dreamers suggest that in the distant future spaceships will be driven by engines that will use precisely the energy of the collision of antiparticles with ordinary ones.
It is estimated that the annihilation of 1 kg of antimatter from 1 kg of ordinary matter will release an amount of energy only 25% less than in the largest explosion to date atomic bomb on the planet. Today it is believed that the forces that determine the structure of both matter and antimatter are the same. Accordingly, the structure of antimatter should be the same as that of ordinary matter.
One of the most big mysteries The question of the universe is: why does the observable part of it consist practically of matter; perhaps there are places that are completely composed of the opposite matter? It is believed that such a significant asymmetry arose in the first seconds after the Big Bang.
In 1965, an anti-deuteron was synthesized, and later even an antihydrogen atom, consisting of a positron and an antiproton, was obtained. Today, enough of this substance has been obtained to study its properties. This substance, by the way, is the most expensive on earth; 1 gram of anti-hydrogen costs 62.5 trillion dollars.
Every day, an incredible volume passes through observatories around the world. new information and data from telescopes aimed at various corners of the Universe. Each piece of this data is of great interest to science, but not all of the information deserves public attention. And yet, some discoveries turn out to be so rare and unexpected that they attract the attention of even those people who are almost completely indifferent to space.
Superscattered galaxies
There are galaxies different forms and size, however, just recently, astronomers have discovered a completely new type of these cosmic objects: fluffy and smoky, like clouds, super-diffuse galaxies contain an incredibly low number of stars. For example, a recently discovered super-diffuse galaxy 60,000 light-years across (about the size of our Milky Way) contains only 1 percent stars.
To date, thanks to working together Keck telescope, as well as the Dragonfly Telephoto Array, astronomers discovered 47 super-scattered galaxies. They have such a low percentage of stars that the night sky here would appear completely empty.
These space objects so unusual that astronomers are still not sure how they could have formed in the first place. Most likely, superscattered galaxies are so-called failed galaxies that ran out of galactic material (gas and dust) at the time of their formation. Perhaps these galaxies were once part of larger galaxies. But most of all, scientists are amazed by the fact that super-scattered galaxies were discovered in the Coma cluster - a region of space filled with dark matter and galaxies with colossal rotation rates. Given these circumstances, it can be assumed that super-scattered galaxies were once literally torn to shreds by the gravitational madness going on in this corner of space.
"Suicide" of an asteroid
The Hubble Space Telescope recently witnessed a very rare cosmic phenomenon - the spontaneous destruction of an asteroid. Typically, such a set of circumstances is caused by cosmic collisions or too close approach to larger cosmic bodies. However, the destruction of asteroid P/2013 R3 under the influence of sunlight turned out to be a somewhat unexpected phenomenon for astronomers. Growing Impact solar wind led to the rotation of R3. At some point this rotation reached critical point and broke the asteroid into 10 large pieces weighing about 200,000 tons. Slowly moving away from each other at a speed of 1.5 kilometers per second, pieces of the asteroid ejected an incredible amount of small particles.
A star is born
While observing the object W75N(B)-VLA2, astronomers witnessed the formation of a new celestial body. Located just 4,200 light-years away, VLA2 was first discovered in 1996 by the VLA (Very Large Array) radio telescope located at the San Augustine Observatory in New Mexico. During their first observation, scientists noted a dense cloud of gas emitted by the tiny young star.
In 2014, during the next observation of object W75N(B)-VLA2, scientists noted obvious changes. In such a short period from an astronomical point of view heavenly body changed, but these metamorphoses did not contradict previously created scientifically predictable models. Over the past 18 years, the spherical shape of the gas surrounding the star has acquired a more elongated shape under the influence of accumulated dust and space debris, actually creating a kind of cradle.
An unusual planet with incredible temperature changes
Space object 55 Cancri E has been nicknamed the “diamond planet” because it is almost entirely composed of crystalline diamond. However, scientists have recently discovered another unusual feature of this cosmic body. Temperature differences on the planet can spontaneously change by 300 percent, which is simply unimaginable for a planet of this type.
55 Cancri E is perhaps the most unusual planet within its system of five other planets. It is incredibly dense, and its complete orbit around the star takes 18 hours. Under the influence of the strongest tidal forces of the native star, the planet faces it with only one side. Since the temperature on it can vary from 1000 thousand degrees to 2700 degrees Celsius, scientists suggest that the planet may be covered with volcanoes. On the one hand, this could explain such unusual temperature changes, on the other hand, it could refute the hypothesis that the planet is a giant diamond, because in this case the level of carbon contained would not meet the required level.
The volcanic hypothesis is supported by evidence found in our own solar system. Jupiter's satellite Io is very similar to the planet described, and tidal forces directed at this satellite turned it into one continuous giant volcano.
The strangest exoplanet - Kepler 7b
Gas giant Kepler 7b is a real revelation for scientists. At first, astronomers were struck by the incredible “obesity” of the planet. It is about 1.5 times larger than Jupiter, but has much less mass, which could mean that its density is comparable to that of Styrofoam.
This planet could easily sit on the surface of an ocean, if it were possible to find an ocean large enough to accommodate it. Additionally, Kepler 7b is the first exoplanet for which a cloud map has been created. Scientists have found that the temperature on its surface can reach 800-1000 degrees Celsius. Hot, but not as hot as expected. The fact is that Kepler 7b is located closer to its star than Mercury is to the Sun. After three years of observing the planet, scientists figured out the reasons for these inconsistencies: clouds in the upper atmosphere reflect excess heat from the star. Even more interesting was the fact that one side of the planet is always covered with clouds, while the other always remains clear.
Triple eclipse on Jupiter
A normal eclipse isn't that big of a deal. a rare event. Yet a solar eclipse is an amazing coincidence: the diameter of the solar disk is 400 times larger than the Moon, and at this moment the Sun is 400 times farther from it. It so happens that the Earth is the ideal place to observe these cosmic events.
Solar and lunar eclipses- these are truly beautiful phenomena. But in terms of entertainment, the triple eclipse on Jupiter outperforms them. In January 2015, the Hubble telescope captured three Galilean satellites - Io, Europa and Callisto - lined up in front of their "gas daddy" Jupiter.
Anyone on Jupiter at that moment could have witnessed a psychedelic triple Solar eclipse. The next such event will not occur until 2032.
Giant star cradle
Stars are often found in groups. Large groups are called globular star clusters, and they can contain up to one million stars. Such clusters are scattered throughout the Universe, and at least 150 of them are located inside the Milky Way. All of them are so ancient that scientists cannot even imagine the principle of their formation. However, just recently, astronomers discovered a very rare cosmic object - a very young globular cluster, filled with gas, but without stars inside it.
Deep among the Antennae group of galaxies, located 50 million light-years away, there is a gas cloud whose mass is equivalent to 50 million Suns. This place will soon become a “nursery” for many young stars. This is the first time astronomers have discovered such an object, and so they compare it to a “dinosaur egg about to hatch.” From a technical point of view, this “egg” could have “hatched” a long time ago, since, presumably, such regions of space remain starless for only about one million years.
The importance of opening such objects is colossal. Since they can explain some of the most ancient and as yet inexplicable processes in the Universe. It is quite possible that it is precisely such regions of space that become the cradles of incredibly beautiful globular clusters that we can now observe.
A rare phenomenon that helped solve the mystery of cosmic dust
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is installed directly on board the modernized Boeing 747SP aircraft and is designed to study various astronomical events. At an altitude of 13 kilometers above the Earth's surface, there is less atmospheric water vapor, which would interfere with the operation of an infrared telescope.
Recently, the SOFIA telescope helped astronomers solve one of the cosmic mysteries. Surely many of you who have watched various programs about space know that we all, like everything in the Universe, consist of star dust, or rather, of the elements from which it consists. However, scientists for a long time could not understand how this star dust does not evaporate under the influence of supernovae, which carry it throughout the Universe.
Using its infrared eye to peer at the 10,000-year-old supernova Sagittarius A East, SOFIA discovered that the gathering dense regions of gas around the star act as cushions, repelling cosmic dust particles, protecting them from the effects of the explosion's heat and shock wave.
Even if 7-20 percent of cosmic dust could survive the encounter with Sagittarius A East, then it would be quite enough to form about 7,000 space objects the size of Earth.
Perseid meteor collides with the Moon
Every year from mid-July until about the end of August, you can see the Perseid meteor shower in the night sky, but the best place to start your observation of this cosmic phenomenon is by observing the Moon. On August 9, 2008, amateur astronomers did just that, witnessing an unforgettable event - the impact of meteorites on our natural satellite. Due to the latter's lack of atmosphere, meteorites falling on the Moon occur quite regularly. However, the fall of the Perseid meteors, which, in turn, are fragments of the slowly dying comet Swift-Tuttle, was marked by especially bright flashes on the lunar surface, which could be seen by anyone with even the simplest telescope.
Since 2005, NASA has witnessed about 100 similar meteorite impacts on the Moon. Such observations could one day help develop methods to predict future meteorite impacts, as well as means to protect future astronauts and lunar colonists.
Dwarf galaxies containing more stars than huge galaxies
Dwarf galaxies are amazing cosmic objects that show us that size doesn't always matter. Astronomers have already conducted studies to find out the rate of star formation in medium and large galaxies, but there was a gap in this matter about tiny galaxies until recently.
After the Hubble Space Telescope provided infrared data on the dwarf galaxies it was observing, astronomers were surprised. It turned out that star formation in tiny galaxies occurs much faster than star formation in larger galaxies. What's surprising about this is that larger galaxies contain more gas, which is required for the appearance of stars. Nevertheless, in tiny galaxies, in 150 million years, the same number of stars are formed as in standard-sized galaxies or larger. large size over approximately 1.3 billion years of hard and intensive work by local gravitational forces. And what’s interesting is that scientists don’t yet know why dwarf galaxies are so prolific.
