A huge amount of data is processed daily in the world's observatories. New discoveries are regularly made that can be very useful for science, but seem unremarkable to ordinary people. However, some of the cosmic phenomena that astronomers have been able to observe in recent years are so rare and unexpected that they will surprise even the most ardent opponents of astronomy.
Ultradiffuse galaxies
It looks like a rare space object - an ultra-diffuse galaxyIt's no secret that the shapes of galaxies can vary greatly. But until a few years ago, scientists did not even suspect that there were so-called "fluffy" galaxies. They are very thin and include very few stars. The diameter of some of them reaches 60 thousand light years, which is comparable to the size of the Milky Way, but the stars in them are about 100 times smaller.
This is interesting: Using the giant Mauna Kea telescope, located in Hawaii, astronomers have discovered 47 previously unknown ultra-diffuse galaxies. There are so few stars in them that any outside observer, looking at the right part of the sky, would see only emptiness there.
Ultradiffuse galaxies are so unusual that astronomers still cannot confirm a single guess about their formation. Perhaps these are simply former galaxies that have run out of gas. There is also an assumption that UDGs are just pieces that have “torn off” from larger galaxies. No less questions are raised by their "survivability". Ultra-diffuse galaxies have been discovered in the Coma Cluster, a region of space where dark matter seethes and any normal galaxies shrink at tremendous speeds. This fact suggests that ultra-diffuse galaxies got their appearance due to the crazy gravity in outer space.
Comet that committed suicide
As a rule, comets are tiny, and if they are very far from the Earth, it is difficult to observe them even with modern technology. Fortunately, there is also the Hubble Space Telescope. Thanks to him, scientists have recently witnessed the rarest phenomenon - the spontaneous decay of the comet's nucleus.
It is worth noting that in reality comets are much more fragile objects than it might seem. They are easily destroyed in any cosmic collisions or when passing through the gravitational field of massive planets. However, comet P/2013 R3 disintegrated thousands of times faster than other similar space objects. It happened very unexpectedly. Scientists have found that this comet has long been gradually destroyed due to the cumulative effects of sunlight. The sun illuminated the comet unevenly, thereby causing it to rotate. The intensity of rotation increased over time, and at one moment the celestial body could not withstand the load and fell apart into 10 large fragments weighing 100-400 thousand tons. These pieces slowly move away from each other and leave behind a stream of tiny particles. By the way, our descendants, if they wish, will be able to witness the consequences of this decay, because the parts of R3 that did not fall on the Sun will still meet them in the form of meteors.
The birth of a star
In 19 years, the size and appearance of the young star has changed significantly Over the past 19 years, astronomers have been able to watch how a small young star, named W75N(B)-VLA2, matures into a fairly massive and mature celestial body. The star, only 4200 light-years distant from Earth, was first noticed in 1996 by astronomers at the radio observatory in San Augustin, New Mexico. Observing it for the first time, scientists noticed a dense gas cloud that emanated from an unstable, barely born star. In 2014, the radio-electronic telescope was directed again towards W75N(B)-VLA2. Scientists decided to once again study the emerging star, which is already in its “adolescence”.
They were very surprised when they saw that in such a short period of time, by astronomical measures, the appearance of the W75N(B)-VLA2 has changed markedly. True, it evolved as experts predicted. For 19 years, the gaseous part of the star has been greatly stretched in the course of interaction with the colossal accumulation of cosmic dust that surrounded the cosmic body at the time of its formation.
Unusual rocky planet with large temperature fluctuations
55 Cancri E is one of the most unusual planets known to astronomers. A small cosmic body called 55 Cancri E, scientists have dubbed the "diamond planet" because of the high content of carbon in its bowels. But recently, astronomers have revealed another distinctive detail of this space object. The temperature on its surface can vary by as much as 300%. This makes this planet unique compared to thousands of other rocky exoplanets.
Due to its unusual position, 55 Cancri E completes a full circle around its star in just 18 hours. One side of this planet is always turned to it, like the Moon to the Earth. Given that the temperature can range from 1100 to 2700 degrees Celsius, experts suggest that the surface of 55 Cancri E is covered with constantly erupting volcanoes. This is the only way to explain the unusual thermal behavior of this planet. Unfortunately, if this assumption is correct, 55 Cancri E cannot be a giant diamond. In this case, you have to admit that the carbon content in its bowels was overestimated.
Confirmation of the volcanic hypothesis can be found even in our solar system. For example, Jupiter's moon Io is very close to the gas giant. The forces of gravity acting on it made Io a huge red-hot volcano.
The most amazing planet - Kepler 7B
Kepler 7B - a planet whose density is about the same as that of polystyrene foam A gas giant called Kepler 7B is a cosmic phenomenon that surprises all astronomers. First, the experts were amazed when they calculated the size of this planet. It has 1.5 times the diameter of Jupiter, but weighs several times less. Based on this, we can conclude that the average density of Kepler 7B is approximately the same as that of polystyrene foam.
This is interesting: If somewhere in the Universe there was an ocean in which such a giant planet could be placed, it would not drown in it.
And in 2013, for the first time, astronomers were able to map the cloud cover of Kepler 7B. It was the first planet outside the solar system to be explored in such detail. Using infrared images, scientists were also able to measure the temperature on the surface of this celestial body. It turned out that it ranges from 800 to 1000 degrees Celsius. It's quite hot by our standards, but much colder than expected. The fact is that Kepler 7B is even closer to its star than Mercury is to the Sun. After three years of observations, astronomers were able to figure out the cause of the temperature paradox: it turned out that the cloud cover is quite dense, so it reflects most of the thermal energy.
This is interesting: One side of Kepler 7B is always shrouded in dense clouds, while on the other, clear weather reigns constantly. Astronomers do not know of any other similar planet.
The next triple eclipse of Jupiter will occur in 2032. We can observe eclipses quite often, but we do not understand how rare such phenomena are in general in the Universe.
A solar eclipse is an amazing cosmic coincidence. The diameter of our luminary is 400 times larger than that of the Moon, and it is about 400 times farther from our planet. It just so happens that the Earth is located in an ideal place so that people can watch how the Moon obscures the Sun, and their contours coincide.
A lunar eclipse has a slightly different nature. We stop seeing our satellite when the Earth occupies a position between the Sun and the Moon, closing the latter from the rays. This phenomenon is much more common.
This is interesting: Both solar and lunar eclipses are great, but the triple eclipse of Jupiter makes a much stronger impression. In early January 2015, the Hubble Space Telescope was able to capture the moment when the three "Galilean" satellites of the gas giant - Io, Europa and Callisto, lined up in front of their "dad" as if on command. If we could at this moment be on the surface of Jupiter, we would witness a psychedelic triple eclipse.
Fortunately, the perfect harmony of the motion of the satellites causes this phenomenon to repeat itself, and scientists are able to predict its exact date and time. The next triple eclipse of Jupiter will occur in 2032.
A colossal "nursery" of future stars
Astronomers have discovered a forming globular cluster of stars, which so far has only gas Stars are often combined into groups or so-called globular clusters. Some of them include up to a million stars. Such clusters are found throughout the Universe, only in our galaxy there are about 150 of them. And all of them are old enough, so that astronomers cannot understand the mechanisms of formation of star clusters.
But 3 years ago, astronomers discovered a rare object - an emerging globular cluster, which so far consists only of gas. This cluster is located in the so-called "Antennas" - two interacting galaxies NGC-4038 and NGC-4039, belonging to the constellation Crow.
The emerging cluster is 50 million light-years away from Earth. It is a giant cloud, the mass of which is 52 million times greater than the sun. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of new stars will be born in it.
This is interesting: When astronomers first saw this cluster, they compared it to an egg from which a chicken will soon hatch. In fact, the chick must have “hatched” a long time ago, because in theory, stars begin to form in such regions after about 1 million years. But the speed of light is limited, so we can only observe their birth when their real age has already reached 50 million years.
The significance of this discovery is difficult to overestimate. It is thanks to him that we begin to learn the secrets of one of the most mysterious processes in space. Most likely, it is from such massive gas regions that all stunningly beautiful globular clusters are born.
Stratospheric observatory helps scientists unravel the mystery of cosmic dust
All stars were once formed from cosmic dust. NASA's sophisticated stratospheric observatory, used for infrared imaging, is located aboard a state-of-the-art Boeing 747SP aircraft. With its help, scientists conduct hundreds of studies at an altitude of 12 to 15 kilometers. This layer of the atmosphere contains very little water vapor, so the measurement data are practically not distorted. This allows NASA experts to get a more accurate view of space.
In 2014, SOPHIA immediately justified all the funds spent on its creation when she helped astronomers solve a riddle that had been troubling their minds for decades. As you may have heard in some of their educational shows, the smallest particles of interstellar dust make up all objects in the Universe - planets, stars, and even you and me. But it was not clear how tiny grains of stellar matter could survive, for example, supernova explosions.
Examining the former supernova Sagittarius A, which exploded 100 thousand years ago, through the infrared lenses of the SOFIA observatory, scientists found that dense gas regions around stars serve as such shock absorbers for particles of cosmic dust. So they are saved from destruction and dispersion in the depths of the Universe when exposed to a powerful shock wave. Even if 7-10% of dust remains around Sagittarius A, this will be enough to form 7 thousand bodies comparable in size to the Earth.
Bombardment of the Moon by Perseid Meteors
Meteors constantly bombard the surface of the moon The Perseids are a meteor shower that annually illuminates our sky from July 17 to August 24. The greatest intensity of the "star shower" is usually observed from 11 to 13 August. The Perseids are watched by thousands of amateur astronomers. But they could see a lot more interesting things if they pointed the lens of their telescope at the moon.
In 2008, one of the American amateurs did just that. He witnessed an unusual spectacle - the constant impact of space rocks on the moon. It should be noted that large blocks and small grains of sand constantly bombard our satellite, because there is no atmosphere on it in which they would heat up and burn out from friction. The scale of the bombing increases many times by mid-August.
This is interesting: Since 2005, NASA astronomers have observed more than 100 such "massive space attacks." They have collected a huge amount of data and now hope that they will be able to protect future astronauts or, what the hell is not joking, the colonists of the Moon from bullet-shaped meteorite bodies, the appearance of which cannot be predicted. They are able to break through a much thicker barrier than a spacesuit - the impact energy of a small pebble is comparable to the explosion power of 100 kilograms of TNT.
NASA even drew up detailed bombing plans. So, if you ever want to go on vacation to the moon, we recommend that you check out the meteorite hazard map, which is updated every few minutes.
Huge galaxies produce far fewer stars than dwarf galaxies
The fastest process of star formation occurs in dwarf galaxies. As the name implies, the size of dwarf galaxies on the scale of the universe is very modest. However, they are very powerful. Dwarf galaxies are cosmic proof that the most important thing is not size, but the ability to manage them.
Astronomers have repeatedly conducted research aimed at determining the rate of star formation in medium and large galaxies, but they have only recently reached the smallest ones.
After analyzing the data obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope, which observed dwarf galaxies in the infrared, experts were very surprised. They found that they form stars much faster than more massive galaxies. Before that, scientists assumed that the number of stars directly depends on the amount of interstellar gas, but, as you can see, they were wrong.
This is interesting: Tiny galaxies are the most productive of all known to astronomers. The number of stars in them can double in some 150 million years - an instant for the universe. In galaxies of normal size, such an increase in population can occur in at least 2-3 billion years.
Unfortunately, at this stage, astronomers do not know the reasons for such a fecundity of dwarfs. Note that in order to reliably determine the relationship between mass and features of star formation, they would need to look into the past by about 8 billion years. Perhaps scientists will be able to uncover the secrets of dwarf galaxies when they discover many similar objects at different stages of development.
400 years ago, the great scientist Galileo Galilei created the first ever telescope. Since then, the study of the depths of the universe has become an integral part of science. We live in an age of incredibly rapid scientific and technological progress, when important astronomical discoveries are being made one after another. However, the more we study space, the more questions arise that scientists cannot answer. I wonder if people will ever be able to say that they know everything about the universe?
Space is still an incomprehensible mystery for all mankind. 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 Saturn's rings. The sounds were recorded using the Audio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) device, which detects radio and plasma waves, which are then converted into sounds. As a result, scientists "heard" not at all what they expected.
The sounds were recorded using an Audio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) device that 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 "whistles and creaks" created in space by charged particles.
But as soon as Cassini dived into the void between the rings, everything suddenly became strangely quiet.
The planet, which is an ice ball, was discovered using a special technique and was named OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb.
With the help of microlensing, it was possible to discover a new planet, approximately equal to the Earth in mass and even revolving around its star at the same distance as the Earth from the Sun. However, the similarities end there - the new planet is probably too cold to be habitable, since its star is 12 times smaller than our Sun.
Microlensing is a technique that facilitates the detection of distant objects by using background stars as "highlights". When the studied star passes in front of a larger and brighter star, the larger star “illuminates” the smaller one for a short time and simplifies the process of observing the system.
The Cassini spacecraft successfully completed a 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 atmosphere of Saturn is about 2,000 km. And through this "gap" "Cassini" had to slip at a speed of 124 thousand km / h. At the same time, as a protection against 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 get in touch with the Earth for 20 hours.
A group of independent auroral researchers have discovered a yet unexplored phenomenon in the night sky over Canada and named it "Steve". More precisely, such a name for the new phenomenon was suggested by one of the users in the comments to the photo of the still unnamed phenomenon. And the scientists agreed. Taking into account the fact that the official scientific communities have not yet really responded to the discovery, the name will be assigned to the phenomenon.
"Big" scientists do not yet know how exactly to characterize this phenomenon, although the group of enthusiasts who discovered Steve initially called it the "proton arc." They didn't know that proton auroras were invisible to the human eye. Preliminary tests showed that Steve was 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 found that the temperature of the air inside the gas stream rises above 3000 degrees Celsius. At first, scientists could not even believe it. The data showed that at the time of the measurements, Steve, 25 kilometers wide, was moving at a speed of 10 kilometers per second.
5. A new planet suitable for life
An exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf 40 light-years from Earth could become the new winner of the title of "best place to look for signs of life outside the solar system." According to scientists, the system LHS 1140 in the constellation Cetus may be even more suitable for the search 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% of the sun's, respectively. The surface temperature is about 3131 Kelvin, which is half that of the Sun. The luminosity of the star is equal to 0.002 of the luminosity of the Sun. The age of LHS 1140 is estimated at about 5 billion years.
Source 6The asteroid that almost made it to Earth
Asteroid 2014 JO25 with a diameter of about 650 m approached the 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 has classified the asteroid as "potentially hazardous". All asteroids larger than 100 meters and approaching the Earth closer than 19.5 distances from it to the Moon automatically fall into this category.
Pictured is Pan, a natural satellite of Saturn. The three-dimensional photograph was taken 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 Schoulter analyzed photographs taken by the Voyager 2 robotic interplanetary station in 1981. Experts have not yet agreed on why Pan has such a shape.
8. The first photos of the habitable Trappist-1 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 photos of the star on its website. The camera took one frame per minute for an hour, and then the photo was assembled into an animation:
The animation is 11×11 pixels and covers an area of 44 arcseconds. This is equivalent to a grain of sand at arm's length.
Recall that the distance from the Earth to the star Trappist-1 is 39 light years.
9. Date of the collision of the Earth with Mars
American geophysicist Stephen Myers of the University of Wisconsin suggested that Earth and Mars could collide. This theory is by no means new, but scientists have recently confirmed it by finding evidence in an unexpected place. It's all because of the "butterfly effect".
It's the same phenomenon. A butterfly fluttering over the Indian Ocean could affect weather patterns over North America in a week.
This idea is not new. But Myers' team found evidence in an unexpected place. The rock formation in Colorado is made up of sedimentary layers that are evidence of climate change, which was caused by fluctuations in the amount of sunlight entering the planet. According to scientists, this is the result of changes in the Earth's orbit.
For at least the last 50 million years, the Earth's orbit has cyclically changed its shape 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 slightly interacted, as if “pulling” each other, which is natural to expect in a chaotic system.
The discovery will help understand the relationship between orbital changes and climate. But other potential consequences are somewhat more worrisome: In billions of years, 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 area of the Perseus cluster is formed from gas, the temperature of which is 10 million degrees, which makes it glow. A unique NASA photo allows you to see the galactic vortex in all its details. It extends over a million light-years through the very center of the Perseus Cluster.
The cosmos is full of bizarre and even scary phenomena, ranging from stars that suck the life out of their own kind to giant black holes that are billions of times larger and more massive than our Sun.
1 Ghost Planet
Many astronomers have said that the huge planet Fomalhaut B has sunk into oblivion, but it seems to be alive again. In 2008, astronomers using the NASA Hubble Space Telescope announced the discovery of a huge planet that orbits the very bright star Fomalhaut, located at a distance of only 25 light-years from Earth. Other researchers later questioned this discovery, saying that scientists had actually discovered a giant cloud of dust.
However, according to the latest data from Hubble, the planet is showing up again and again. Other experts are carefully studying the system surrounding the star, so the zombie planet may be buried more than once before a final verdict is made on this issue.
2 Zombie Stars
Some stars are literally coming back to life in a brutal and dramatic way. Astronomers classify these zombie stars as Type Ia supernovae, which create huge and powerful explosions that send the "innards" of stars into the Universe.
Type Ia supernovae explode from binary systems that consist of at least one white dwarf - a tiny, superdense star that has stopped undergoing nuclear fusion. White dwarfs are "dead", but in this form they cannot remain in the binary system.
They can come back to life, albeit briefly, in a giant explosion along with a supernova, sucking life out of their companion star or by merging with it.
3 Vampire Stars
Just like vampires in fiction, some stars manage to stay young by sucking the life force out of unfortunate victims. These vampire stars are known as "blue stragglers" and "look" much younger than their neighbors with whom they were formed.
When they explode, the temperature is much higher and the color is "much bluer". Scientists believe this is the case because they suck huge amounts of hydrogen from neighboring stars.
4. Giant black holes
Black holes may seem like objects of science fiction - they are extremely dense, and the gravity in them is so strong that not even light is able to escape from them if it approaches close enough.
But these are very real objects that are quite common throughout the universe. In fact, astronomers believe that supermassive black holes are at the center of most (if not all) galaxies, including our own Milky Way. Supermassive black holes are mind-boggling in size.
5 Killer Asteroids
The phenomena cited in the previous paragraph may be eerie or take an abstract form, but they do not pose a threat to humanity. What cannot be said about large asteroids that fly at a distance close to the Earth.
And even an asteroid only 40 meters in size can cause serious harm if it hits a populated area. Probably the influence of the asteroid is one of the factors that changed life on Earth. It is assumed that 65 million years ago, it was the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs. Fortunately, there are ways to redirect dangerous space rocks away from Earth, if, of course, the danger is detected in time.
6. Active sun
The sun gives us life, but our star is not always so good. From time to time, serious storms occur on it, which can have a potentially devastating effect on radio communications, satellite navigation and the operation of electrical networks.
Recently, such solar flares have been observed especially often, because the sun has entered its especially active phase of the 11-year cycle. Researchers expect solar activity to peak in May 2013.
Space is truly a mysterious place. Something extremely unusual is constantly happening in the universe, so it is not surprising that there are many secrets that we long to uncover. Since the earliest days of space exploration, astronauts and ground-based researchers have encountered a range of incredible phenomena. From UFOs to mysterious glows, something inexplicable is constantly observed outside the atmosphere of our planet right in the middle of a boundless vacuum. 
Is there intelligent life in the universe other than us? How to explain the strange events that we manage to register with our still insufficiently advanced devices? There are many more questions, but scientists are now only at the beginning of the thorny path of exploring our world. Want to learn about 25 interesting cases from their practice?
25. Knocking in the Chinese spacecraft, the origin of which has not been clarified
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
Taikonaut (participant of the Chinese space program) Yang Liwei was the first person who was sent into space by the PRC authorities on the Shenzhou 5 ship. During his 21-hour flight, the hero astronaut heard a strange noise, as if someone outside was banging on the skin of his ship. The pilot was never able to determine the source of the mysterious sound, and none of the Chinese experts was also able to offer a sufficiently convincing version of the nature of what happened. Some believe that the whole thing was the reaction of the ship to the impact of the space environment. Probably the ship's hull contracted and expanded, making noises that disturbed Liwei.
24 NASA astronaut Story Musgrave saw space eels
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
When the American cosmonaut Story Musgrave was on his next space mission, he allegedly saw some mysterious objects resembling wriggling eels in shape. The astronaut claims to have seen them twice. Experts are sure that it was some kind of space debris, but Musgrave continues to stand his ground - it was something else ...
23. Astronauts who participated in the Apollo program said they saw strange flashes of light in space
Photo: NASA on The Commons / flickr
Many scientists who took part in the flight of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and subsequent launches as part of the same program (the lunar expeditions of Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, 17) claim that they saw strange flashes of light in space. The astronauts stated that the aurora could be seen even when they closed their eyes and that it was white, blue, or yellow. Scientists believe that such visions were caused by contact with cosmic rays (elementary particles and nuclei of atoms moving with high energies in outer space).
22. American astronauts on board the ISS saw a strange orange glow
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
On her first flight to the ISS, Samantha Cristoforetti, the third female astronaut of the European Space Agency and the first female astronaut of the Italian Space Agency, saw something very strange. As she approached the station, she noticed that the ISS glowed with an unusual blood-orange light. No one has been able to explain this phenomenon.
21. Major Gordon Cooper (Gordon Cooper) claims that in space he saw a strange green ball
As a member of the Mercury space program, Major Gordon Cooper circled the Earth in an orbital capsule. According to the astronaut, during his mission he saw a green sphere, confidently approaching him, and then suddenly disappeared. At the same time, the equipment of the Australian Center for Deep Space Communications registered an unusual signal. Coincidence?
20. NASA Astronauts Deliberately Started a Fire Aboard the ISS
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
Of course, the last thing you want to see on board a spaceship as a passenger is a fire. However, NASA decided that there would still be fire in space. In fact, this idea had purely scientific goals - the researchers wanted to observe the behavior of the flame in microgravity. What's the lesson? First, in such unusual conditions, the fire takes the form of a sphere or a drop. Secondly, the flames usually follow the air source from the ventilation systems, and do not just rise up under any circumstances, as is most often the case on Earth. Scientists are going to conduct several more similar experiments to learn more about the nature of the spread of fires, how quickly they can flare up and which materials pose the greatest risk to astronauts in the event of an uncontrolled fire on board.
19. Astronauts flew into space, taking with them an unusual satellite - an earthly bacterium
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
Living organisms in space behave differently than on our planet. Bacteria are no exception in this case. Astronaut Cheryl Nickerson was tasked with taking a salmonella sample into space with him, and the bacterium spent a whopping 11 days in space. Upon returning to Earth, the bacterium was quickly injected into an experimental mouse to test how a salmonella infection that survived the space trip would proceed. Mice with salmonellosis usually die after 7 days, but laboratory animals that were infected with "space" bacteria died 2 days earlier and from a smaller dose. Similar experiments were carried out with other bacteria, but the results were always unpredictable and ambiguous. To date, scientists have not yet figured out how exactly the flight out of the earth's atmosphere and the return back affect various microorganisms.
18. During the flight in the orbit of the moon, the participants of the Apollo 10 mission heard strange music.
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
When the astronauts who flew around the moon were at the farthest point from us, they heard sounds that they later called "the music of outer space." At that moment, they had no connection with the flight center in Houston, and the astronauts were completely cut off from the rest of the world. Upon returning home, none of the mission participants spoke about what happened, but a few years later, on the recordings of their flight, scientists heard a low-frequency whistling noise of unknown origin ...
17 Neil Armstrong May Have Seen Aliens On The Moon
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
Of course, you can doubt this, but they say that Neil Armstrong sent NASA a secret message in which the pioneer claimed that during his legendary mission he met with an extraterrestrial civilization. In a classified report, the astronaut wrote something like this: “They are watching us from the far side of the moon!”. Armstrong himself denies all this.
16 Mysterious Flashes Of Light From Space That No Astronomer Can Explain
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
This phenomenon was discovered in February 2007. At the same time, these mysterious flashes of an unknown nature were called "fast radio bursts", which last only a few milliseconds. Scientists do not yet know what these radio pulses are, or what exactly provokes their occurrence. There are several theories, including the version that these outbreaks are somehow connected with neutron stars, black holes, or even aliens.
15. Astronauts who spend a lot of time on a mission get taller.
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
One of the interesting effects of a relatively long stay in space is the change in astronaut height. Due to the influence of microgravity, the spine does not experience the usual load and pressure for it, as it happens under the conditions of earthly gravity at home. Therefore, upon returning home, the astronauts, as it were, “stretch” by about 3% of their height. However, over time, the former growth returns, and the reason for this is the same force of attraction.
14. A real cosmic cataclysm occurred at a distance of 10.7 billion light years from Earth
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
While we are floating in our cozy galaxy, something frightening regularly happens in the Universe ... For example, researchers recently recorded a sudden burst of X-ray radiation at a distance of about 10.7 billion light-years from Earth. Astronomers believe that this was some extremely destructive phenomenon that can be compared to a cosmic cataclysm. The energy released by the burst was a thousand times more powerful than the energy that all the stars in our galaxy are capable of emitting! No one yet knows what this event was, or what caused it, and whether any special consequences await us.
13. Russian cosmonaut saw a mysterious object the size of a finger in the window
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
During a mission aboard the Salyut-6 orbital station, Russian cosmonaut Colonel General Vladimir Kovalyonok saw an object the size of a normal finger in space. While the astronaut was examining this strange object, trying to understand what it was, the mysterious thing exploded and split into 2 parts. The golden fragments disappeared as soon as they fell into the shadow of the Earth.
12. The Milky Way has a rather bloodthirsty past.
Photo: NASA.gov / commons.wikimedia.org
With the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA scientists have discovered an interesting phenomenon of "galactic cannibalism" from our homeland - the Milky Way. American astronomers encountered this phenomenon while they were studying 13 stars at the outer edge of our galaxy's halo to better understand how the Milky Way formed. According to experts, over time, our galaxy grows, and this happens by eating smaller star clusters.
11. During the flight of the reusable spacecraft Atlantis as part of the STS-115 program, the shuttle collided with a UFO
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
During the STS-115 mission, a small unidentified object hit the Atlantis MTKK. The astronauts even had to carry out a full inspection of the vessel to make sure it was not damaged and could continue its mission. According to experts from NASA, it was just some kind of space debris or a wandering piece of ice. Of course, there were those who are sure that such statements are just a cover, and that something more significant happened in space then.
10. Leroy Chiao saw strange flashes of light in space appearing out of nowhere.
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
During his next mission, American astronaut Leroy Chiao (Leroy Chiao) saw five bright lights in the opposite direction from the Sun. According to the researcher, he was amazed by what he saw to the core, and he could not understand what kind of luminous objects they were, or where they came from. The astronaut claims that the lights flew very quickly and in a certain order, except for the second. Later, scientists from NASA tried to figure out what happened, but they did not go beyond theories. Probably, these were some reflections from the Earth.
9. One very distant quasar has an incredibly huge supply of water
Photo: NASA.gov
Approximately 12 billion light-years from Earth, one of the quasars we have discovered (the active galactic nucleus), according to scientists, has a huge supply of water, the mass of which is supposedly 140 trillion times the mass of water in all the oceans of the Earth. By itself, water in space is not such a rarity. However, in this case, the researchers were amazed at how much water was concentrated in one place.
Photo: Scott Kelly
American astronaut Scott Kelly loves to share his flight experiences on social media. In one of his tweets, the scientist published a photograph of India taken from space. However, the most interesting in this picture was not our planet. In the corner of this photo, users noticed 2 strange white lights. Many immediately considered that this was new evidence of the existence of UFOs and aliens, although experts could not establish the nature of the mysterious objects. It could be a flying saucer, or just a lens flare.
7. After a long stay in space, the eyes of the researchers are deformed.
Photo: www.theguardian.com
Astronauts who have been on a mission for too long (more than a month) sometimes begin to complain about their vision upon returning home. According to a new study, many astronauts experience certain changes in the eyeball due to long-term exposure to microgravity. The deformity also affects the optic nerve and the pituitary gland. This condition is closely related to intracranial hypertension (increased pressure in the cranial cavity).
6. The ISS cameras captured an object that is very reminiscent of the ship "Millennium Falcon"
Photo: Kory Westerhold / flickr
Enthusiast Jadon Beeson is passionate about everything related to space and astronauts. During one of the live broadcasts from the NASA video camera installed on the ISS, the man saw something very strange. According to Beeson, it was a pair of lights illuminating an object whose shape very much reminded him of the fictional Millennium Falcon from the famous TV show Star Wars. An enthusiast took a picture of this moment of the broadcast and sent it to NASA experts. There was no explanation from their side.
5. There is still a ninth planet in our solar system
You have probably heard more than once that in 2006 Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet from the honorary ninth planet of the solar system. However, the title of the ninth planet is constantly recalled in the scientific community, and today some researchers are already almost sure that this planet 9 once was in our planetary system, but it was long thrown to a distance farther from the Sun. Astronomers believe that it was the size of Neptune, and right now they are working on new data that can prove this claim. The elliptical orbit of this planet is supposedly so large that it takes about 15 thousand years to complete a revolution around the Sun. This is not 365 days for you ...
4. Soviet cosmonaut Musa Manarov captured a mysterious UFO
Photo: UR3IRS / Russian Wikipedia
In March 1991, Soviet cosmonaut Musa Manarov was on board the ISS, and then he managed to capture something very unusual. A strange white object got into the frame, and Manarov is still sure that it was not some ordinary space debris.
3. NASA interrupted the live broadcast from space as soon as a UFO hit the frame
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
On January 15, 2015, during a live broadcast from the ISS, an unidentified object hovering directly above the Earth fell into the field of view of the lens. As soon as the UFO became absolutely distinct, NASA interrupted its broadcast without any explanation. What kind of object it was, and why the Americans tried to hide it - these are the main questions ...
2 Long Space Shuttle Crews Lose Bone Mass
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
You may be surprised, but it turns out that even human bones are affected by microgravity. If astronauts are on a mission for too long, their bone mass changes markedly. Bones are a very active organ, and they are constantly developing, which largely depends on the physical activity of their owner (running, walking, or vice versa, a passive lifestyle). The lower the load, the weaker and lighter the bones.
1. A live bacterium was discovered overboard the ISS
Photo: wikipedia.commons.com
It used to be considered that living organisms are not able to survive in the permafrost space vacuum. However, astronauts recently found out that this is not at all the case, and this was proved by the discovery of a living bacterium, a sample of which was taken directly from the surface of the ISS. In connection with this discovery, some researchers began to claim that we have the first evidence of the existence of life outside the Earth. However, other experts believe that this phenomenon can be explained much more trivially - ascending air currents could pick up these bacteria from the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere, from where these microorganisms got to the outer shell of the ISS.
While we are admiring the starry sky, somewhere out there, scientists are discovering new and unexplored areas of outer space. Thanks to telescopes and satellites, we continue to get to know the neighbors of our beautiful planet better.
True, for several decades there has been something that scientists cannot fully explain until now, and here is a part of it for you.
1. A supernova explosion, or a supernova.
Under the influence of huge temperatures in the core, a thermonuclear reaction begins, converting hydrogen into helium. Even more heat is released, the radiation of which increases inside the star, but is still held back by gravity. If in a normal language, then in the process of this phenomenon, the star increases its brightness by 5-10 times and at this moment it ceases to exist. Interestingly, as much energy is released every second as the Sun produces during the entire period of its existence.
2. Black holes.
And this is one of the most mysterious objects in all of outer space. They were first mentioned by the genius Albert Einstein. There is such a huge gravitational force in them that space is deformed here, time is distorted and light is bent. If someone's spaceship falls into this zone, then, alas, he has no chance of salvation. Let's start with weightlessness. You are in free fall, so the crew, the ship and all the details are weightless. The closer you get to the center of the hole, the stronger the tidal gravitational forces are felt. For example, your legs are closer to the center than your head. Then you begin to feel like you are being stretched. In the end, you will just be torn to pieces.
3. A tank has been discovered on the moon.
It certainly sounds strange, but it's true. In one of the photographs of the surface of the Moon, obtained from the orbit of a satellite of our planet, ufologists noticed an unusual object that looks like a destroyed tank when viewed from above. True, most experts note that this is just a psychological illusion, an optical illusion.
4. Hot Jupiters.
They are a class of gas planets like Jupiter, but many times hotter. Moreover, they can swell under the influence of powerful radiation from Jupiter. By the way, these planets were discovered 20 years ago. Scientists have found that more than half of all hot Jupiters have orbits that are tilted relative to the equators of their stars. Their exact origin, how they form, and why their orbits are so close to other stars is still a mystery.
5. Giant voids.
Scientists have discovered a place in the universe, which they called a giant void. This space without galaxies is 1.8 billion light years long. And these voids are located 3 billion light years from Earth. In general, scientists have no idea how they formed and why there is nothing inside them.
Agree that sounds like the name of a cult science fiction movie. In fact, dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in outer space. It all started with the fact that back in 1922, astronomers Jacobus Kapteyn and James Jeans, studying the movement of stars in our Galaxy, came to the conclusion that most of the matter in the galaxy is simply invisible. To date, little is known about dark matter, but only one thing is clear: the Universe is 95.1% composed of it and its dark energy.
It would seem, what is there mysterious? But in fact, Mars is fraught with many secrets. For example, on this planet there are mysterious dunes that are the object of research. There is also a high concentration of silicon dioxide, and a layer of sandstones is superimposed on a layer of mudstones. By the way, it is still not clear where underground volcanoes come from on Mars.
8. Great Red Spot of Jupiter.
This is the largest atmospheric vortex that has ever been in the solar system. Over the course of several centuries, this spot managed to change its main color. Do you know what the wind speed is inside this spot? It is equal to 500 km/h. Science still does not know what causes movement within this phenomenon and why it has a reddish tint.
Along with blacks, there are also whites. If the former suck everything they see inside themselves, then the whites, on the contrary, throw out everything they do not need. There is a theory that white holes were black in the past. And someone claims that this is a portal between several dimensions.
10. Cataclysmic variable.
This is a unique comic phenomenon. These are white dwarf stars located near red giants. These are stars whose brightness does not periodically increase many times over, after which it decreases to the level of a calm state.
11. Great attractor.
This is a gravitational anomaly, which is located at a distance of 250 million light years from the Earth. It is also a large cluster of galaxies. The great attractor was discovered in the 1970s. It can only be seen with X-ray or infrared light. By the way, scientists do not believe that someday we will be able to get to it.
12. Major Gordon Cooper on UFOs.
He has been to Mercury. While the Major was in space, he claimed to have seen a glowing green object approaching his capsule. True, until now science cannot explain what it really was.
We know a lot about Saturn thanks to the Cassini-Huygens interplanetary station. But there are many more phenomena that are difficult to explain. Although it is known that the rings are made of water and ice, it is difficult to say how they are formed and how old they are.
14. Gamma-ray burst.
In the 1960s, bursts of radiation emanating from space were detected by American satellites. These outbreaks were intense and short. To date, it is known that these are gamma-ray bursts, which can be both short and long. And they occur as a result of the emergence of a black hole. But the mystery is not only why they can not be seen in every galaxy, but also where they actually come from.
15. The mysterious moon of Saturn.
They named her Peggy and she continues to baffle scientists to this day. She was first seen in 2013. And in 2017, the Cassini probe sent the latest photos of Daphnis, Saturn's small moon, which is located in a "gap" inside one of the planet's rings and generates giant waves in its halves.
Black holes, dark matter, and now dark energy - only Voldemort is missing. And dark energy is a hypothetical material that has been actively discussed by many scientists recently. Some astronomers claim that it does not exist at all, and the Universe does not accelerate due to it, as was previously believed.
17. Baryon dark matter.
It interacts poorly in an electromagnetic way. She's hard to find. It is assumed that it consists of a dark halo, dwarf stars, neutron stars, black holes. Most of her disappeared without a trace, but still few people can answer exactly where she disappeared.
18. Rectangular galaxy.
The dwarf galaxy, which received the index LEDA 074886, is located at a distance of about 70 million light years from Earth. It was opened in 2012. Scientists explain its rectangular shape as a consequence of gravitational lensing (it turns out that everything is so simple). And if in an understandable language, then its essence lies in the fact that when an observer looks at a distant light source in space through another space object, the shape of the distant light source is distorted. True, this is just a guess.
19. Reionization of the Universe.
According to modern concepts, the era of recombination, which ended about 380,000 years after the Big Bang, was replaced by "dark ages" that lasted at least 150 million years. During them, the formed hydrogen was collected in gas accumulations, from which the formation of the first stars, galaxies and quasars later began. During the period of primary star formation, the secondary ionization of hydrogen by the light of stars and quasars takes place - the era of reionization begins. True, it remains unclear how all the galaxies and stars known to us had enough energy to re-ionize hydrogen.
20. Tabby Star or KIC 8462852.
Compared to other stars, it is able to sharply reduce its brightness and immediately gain momentum. This is an extremely unusual phenomenon, because even some scientists are inclined to think that "little green men" may be interested in such changes in brightness. This surprised scientists so much that one of the astronomers, Jason Wright, suggested that a Dyson sphere could be built around the star: “Aliens should always be the latest hypothesis, but it looked like alien civilizations are building something.”
21. Dark current.
Let's talk about the dark side again. Astrophysicists drew attention to the fact that some of the galaxies are clearly moving somewhere beyond the limits of the universe cognized by mankind. As for the potential source of the dark current, the main hypothesis is as follows: at the very beginning of the existence of the Universe, when it was still in a compressed state, some cosmic mass had such a strong effect on its structure that to this day part of it is preserved in the form of attraction. , which drags galaxies over the edge.
22. Signal Wow!
It was registered on August 15, 1977 by astronomer Jerry Eyman. Interestingly, the duration of the Wow signal (72 seconds) and the shape of the graph of its intensity over time correspond to the expected characteristics of the extraterrestrial signal. True, a theory has recently arisen that the signal belongs to a pair of comets emitting a radio frequency.
23. UFO 1991 VG.
This mysterious object was discovered by astronomer James Scotty. Its diameter was only 10 m, and its orbit is similar to that of the Earth. That is why there is an opinion that this is not a UFO, but an asteroid or an old probe.
24. Bright supernova ASASSN-15lh.
The supernova, dubbed ASASSN-15lh, has been observed by astronomers to be 20 times brighter than all the combined (over 100 billion) stars in our Milky Way galaxy, making it the brightest supernova ever observed. It is twice the maximum brightness recorded for this type of stars. True, the true origin of the supernova remains in question.
25. Zombie Stars.
Usually, when stars explode, they die, go out. But recently, scientists discovered a supernova that exploded, went out, and then exploded again. And instead of cooling down as expected, the object continued to maintain a near-constant temperature of about 5700°C. However, this star survived not even one, but five such explosions.