6 Unusual Occurrences in the Universe

In 2004, the discovery of 55 Cancri e revealed a planet in the Milky Way that is made up of at least one third diamond.

The universe is always presenting us with surprises, constantly challenging our understanding of the vast and infinite space that surrounds us.

Carl Sagan once said, “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Whenever we search for evidence to support a particular concept or idea, we often discover something completely unrelated that turns our understanding upside down.

As a child, I was fascinated by the wonder and mystery of space, and the universe never fails to amaze and intrigue me with its strange coincidences and phenomena, from galaxies shaped like unicorns and craters on Mercury that resemble Mickey Mouse, to nebulae and shooting stars.

In this article, we will explore six of the strangest phenomena in the universe.

The 186-Year-Old Tornado on Jupiter

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a massive, high-pressure storm that is said to be as powerful as the worst hurricanes on Earth.

It is so large that it could fit three Earths inside it.

In 1979, Voyager 1 captured photographs of this phenomenon, allowing scientists to observe different colors in the clouds around the Great Red Spot, suggesting that the clouds swirl around the spot in a counter-clockwise direction at varying altitudes.

This spot has been observed from Earth for approximately 400 years, as it is large enough to be viewed through telescopes.

Giovanni Domenico Cassini was reportedly the first to observe this marvel in 1665, although this is difficult to confirm.

Although the Great Red Spot is slowly dying off and becoming smaller over time, it remains one of the most unusual spectacles in the universe.

The Largest Reservoir of Water in the Universe

In 2011, scientists detected the largest and most distant reservoir of water in the universe, which is equivalent to 140 trillion times the amount of water in Earth’s oceans.

This water surrounds a quasar that contains a massive black hole known as APM 08279+5255, which is 20 billion times larger than the sun and more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth.

The quasar is powered by the black hole, which slowly consumes a disk of gas or dust surrounding it, producing enormous amounts of energy.

The energy produced by this quasar is equivalent to that produced by a thousand trillion suns.

All the water vapor in the Milky Way is 4,000 times less than the amount of water vapor surrounding this quasar.

The water vapor encircles the black hole in a gaseous form that stretches hundreds of light-years wide, with a light-year being approximately six trillion miles.

Although the gas is 300 trillion times less dense than Earth’s atmosphere and is at a temperature of -63°F (-53°C), it is still five times hotter and 10 to 100 times denser than what is typical in galaxies like the Milky Way.

Measurements of the vapor and other molecules, such as carbon monoxide, indicate that there is enough gas to feed the black hole until it is about six times larger, but what will happen after that is uncertain.

A black hole of incredible size defies scientific explanation.

The largest black hole ever discovered in the universe is J0100+2802, located inside the largest Quasar with the highest luminosity of any known quasar in 2015.

What baffles astronomers is that this black hole is 12 billion times the mass of the sun and has a luminosity of 420 trillion suns, 7 times brighter than the previous brightest quasar it surpassed.

J0100+2802 defies expectations due to its age, forming only 900 million years after the Big Bang, and being much larger than it should be for its age.

Located 12.8 billion light years away from Earth, this black hole has made astronomers reassess their understanding of quasars and their formation.

Xiaohui Fan, who was part of the team that discovered it, perfectly summarized its impressiveness, stating: “How can a quasar so luminous, and a black hole so massive, form so early in the history of the universe, at an era soon after the earliest stars and galaxies have just emerged?”

The black hole powering this new quasar is 3,000 times heavier than the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

The Diamond Planet: A Planet Made of Diamonds.

55 Cancri e, discovered in 2004, is a super-Earth planet in the Milky Way that is at least one-third diamond.

This planet is twice as wide as Earth and has a mass eight times greater, orbiting around its host star, 55 Cancri, which is located about 40 light-years away from Earth in the Cancer constellation. It takes just 18 hours to orbit its host star, while it takes Earth 365 days to orbit the Sun.

Because 55 Cancri e is so close to its host star, about 25 times closer than Mercury is to the Sun, its surface temperature reaches 9200°F (5,100°C), making it uninhabitable.

The planet’s value has been estimated to be around $26.9 nonillion, which is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (30 zeros).

For comparison, if the Earth was covered in a nonillion $1 bills, the bills would create a layer 12 million miles thick.

A Cloud of Raspberry-Flavored Rum!

Sagittarius B2 is a giant molecular cloud of gas and dust found about 390 light years away from the center of the Milky Way. It contains an enormous amount of ethyl formate, a chemical compound that gives it a distinct smell of raspberries and rum.

The cloud has a mass equal to 3 million times that of the sun and spans an area of about 150 light-years. Temperatures within the cloud range from 80°F (27°C) to -451.8°F (-233.2°C).

While it may sound enticing, the cloud also contains other chemical compounds, including propyl cyanide.

This cloud contains billions of liters of alcohol, with enough ethyl alcohol to fill 400 trillion, trillion pints of beer.

To consume that much, every person on Earth would have to drink 300,000 pints every day for a billion years.

A Planet of Burning Ice: Gliese 436 b.

Gliese 436 b, roughly the size of Neptune, was first discovered in 2004 and is located about 30 million light-years away from Earth, 20 times larger than Earth.

The planet known as Gliese 436 b has an orbit that is only 4.3 million miles away from its star and takes 2 days and 15.5 hours to complete, which is vastly different from the Earth’s 93 million mile orbit around the Sun. Despite its close proximity to its star, Gliese 436 b has a minimum surface temperature of 475 °F (245°C). The planet also has a unique form of water, called ice-X, which is held together by strong gravitational forces despite the extreme temperatures. This is not your typical ice, but rather compressed water similar to the formation of diamonds from carbon. These forces keep the water molecules from evaporating and escaping the planet, instead remaining tightly packed deep within.

While this is just one example of the many peculiarities in the universe, such as planets made entirely of ice and unexplainable gaps like Bootes Void, it is fascinating to explore and learn about. Whether you are a space enthusiast or simply enjoy the bizarre and wonderful, the study of space is an endless source of fascination. It is no wonder why astronomers spend so much time studying it, and some even become completely obsessed. Whether you believe in a creator or the big bang theory, it is undeniable that the universe is truly mind-blowing and deserving of admiration.

FAQ

1. What is Dark Matter?

Dark matter is a mysterious substance that makes up about 27% of the universe. Scientists know that it exists because of its gravitational effects on visible matter. However, it does not emit, absorb, or reflect light, making it invisible to all forms of electromagnetic radiation. Its properties remain a mystery, and researchers continue to search for clues about its nature.

2. What are Black Holes?

Black holes are regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. They form when massive stars collapse and their cores become incredibly dense. The gravity in this region becomes so strong that it warps space and time, creating a singularity, a point of infinite density. The study of black holes has provided insight into the laws of physics under extreme conditions.

3. What is Dark Energy?

Dark energy is another mysterious substance that makes up about 68% of the universe. It is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe and is thought to be present everywhere, even in empty space. Scientists are still trying to understand what dark energy is and how it works.

4. What are Neutron Stars?

Neutron stars are extremely dense objects that form when massive stars explode in supernovae. They are only a few kilometers in diameter but have a mass greater than that of the sun. The intense gravity on their surface causes them to emit radiation, making them visible to telescopes. The study of neutron stars has provided valuable insights into the behavior of matter under extreme conditions.

5. What is the Big Bang?

The Big Bang is the most widely accepted theory about the origin of the universe. According to this theory, the universe began as a hot, dense state, and has been expanding and cooling ever since. It is thought to have started about 13.8 billion years ago. The study of the Big Bang has helped us understand the origin and evolution of the universe.

6. What are Gravitational Waves?

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space and time caused by the acceleration of massive objects. They were predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity and were finally detected in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The study of gravitational waves has opened up a new window into the universe, allowing us to study black holes and other phenomena in ways that were previously impossible.