Astronomers are some of the luckiest people on the planet. They get to spend their days
looking at stars, mapping out distant galaxies, and learning more about the universe. But
sometimes they turn their attention to what’s happening on Earth, and sometimes what they
see absolutely terrifies them. Let’s dive into ten photos of Earth that have scared
astronomers.
#1 https://imgb.srgcdn.com/Q94FcBGhCt0NOOzfW4zs.jpg?width=640
Astronomers were scared and confused when they found this massive triangle in the Nevada
desert. No one knows how this mysterious design was created or where it came from. The shape
was allegedly located in the middle of a nuclear bomb testing site, but not many concrete details
are known about it.
Some say that the entire thing is some kind of hoax, but no one has been able to prove
that the image is fake. The only thing we know for sure is that this mysterious image
is very creepy.
#2 https://static1.thetravelimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/florence.jpeg?q=50&fit=crop&w=963&h=594&dpr=1.5
This photo of Hurricane Florence captured by astronaut Ricky Arnold shows just how powerful
these storms really are. This storm smashed into the Carolinas in 2018 and caused catastrophic
damage. At its peak, the winds reached 150 miles per hour and ripped trees out of the
ground. And by the time it was over, the storm killed 54 people and caused over $20 billion
in damages.
Looking at these storms from ground level is scary enough, but seeing how massive they
are from space puts it into a terrifying new perspective. This picture was taken several
miles above the storm, but Ricky Arnold still had to use a super wide angle lens just to
capture the entire event.
And even though he was safe from the storm in space, Ricky Arnold was still afraid of
what he saw. He later said “Ever stared down the gaping eye of a category 4 hurricane?
It’s chilling, even from space.”
#3 https://static3.thetravelimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Buzz_Aldrin_EVA_Selfie.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=963&h=816&dpr=1.5
Speaking of photos taken by astronauts, this is the first selfie ever taken in space. Buzz
Aldrin is best known for being the second person to ever walk on the moon, but he’s
also the first person to ever take a selfie while not on Earth. Taking pictures of himself
wasn’t part of the mission, but Aldrin was curious to see how it would turn out. While
orbiting the moon during the most important space mission in history, he turned the camera
around and snapped a photo. He later said “I took a few pictures of things as we went
over. And then I thought, I wonder if this could take a picture of me with the ultraviolet
film. So I turned around, clicked the camera and it turned out pretty good!”
Allegedly, some of the NASA crew were freaked out when they saw the pictures developed and
realized that one of their astronauts was “goofing off” during a mission. But luckily
everything went well, and Aldrin made it back to Earth safely.
#4 https://static0.thetravelimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/dWkoOiE.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=963&h=963&dpr=1.5
We all know that the universe is huge, but some astronomers were truly disturbed when
they saw this visualization that shows the scale of space in a way that has never been
done before. Wikipedia hired a man named Pablo Carlos Budassi to create the image. He combined
high-resolution pictures taken by NASA, and custom textures he designed himself to map
out the entire known universe in one image.
Keep in mind that every tiny little dot in this picture is actually an entire solar system.
And inside those solar systems are thousands of stars, planets, and moons. Space is so
big that our minds literally can’t comprehend the true scale, but this photo does help put
it all in perspective. One thing’s for sure: if you like looking at stars, you’ll never
run out of new things to see.
#5 https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2019-07/29/19/asset/f4c82c263ab3/sub-buzz-169-1564427600-1.jpg?downsize=700%3A%2A&output-quality=auto&output-format=auto
Thanks to modern technology, we’re able to send spacecraft further than most people
ever thought was possible. But sometimes they send images back to Earth that terrify astronomers.
This is the very last picture that one of NASA’s unmanned craft captured before it
crashed into Saturn and was destroyed.
On the right side of the picture you can see Saturn’s rings. But on the lower left side
there’s a tiny blue dot floating all by itself. That tiny dot is actually Earth. Before
this photo was taken, astronomers had never seen our planet from this perspective. And
the size of Saturn’s rings compared to Earth is enough to realize just how small our world
is compared to the universe around it.
#6 https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2019-07/29/19/asset/e70c3644e739/sub-buzz-191-1564428075-1.jpg?downsize=700%3A%2A&output-quality=auto&output-format=auto
This scary picture from the Apollo 11 mission shows just how alone and isolated the astronauts
were in the middle of space. Just remember, nothing like this had ever been accomplished
before. The astronauts on this mission were attempting something that no one was even
sure was possible; and one mistake would have left them stranded alone in the cold vacuum
of space.
Michael Collins captured the photo while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were inside the
spacecraft that actually landed on the moon. Shortly after this picture was taken, they
made history as the first humans to ever walk on ground that didn’t belong to Earth.
#7 https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2019-07/29/19/asset/ae914790cb05/sub-buzz-163-1564427702-1.jpg?downsize=700%3A%2A&output-quality=auto&output-format=auto
And speaking of firsts, this is a picture of astronaut Bruce McCandless II on the first
“flee fly” through space. He was strapped to a nitrogen jetpack that he could maneuver
freely, but there was no tether to his ship or anything else. That means that if something
went wrong, he would have been sent flying into the pitch black darkness of space; hurtling
through the universe until his oxygen supply ran out.
Luckily Bruce kept his jetpack under control and managed to make it back safely, but astronomers
were still terrified to see him attempt this. If he couldn’t get himself back to the spacecraft,
there was nothing anyone could do to help him.
#8 https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2019-07/29/18/asset/bae826e6f86d/sub-buzz-129-1564426710-1.png?downsize=600:*&output-format=auto&output-quality=auto
Have you ever heard of the dark side of the moon? Before NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory
satellite captured this image, no one had ever seen it before. The picture it took looks
so strange that it almost seems unreal, and astronomers were amazed by what they saw.
There have been all kinds of theories about what is actually on the dark side of the moon.
Some people thought there could be intelligent life there, and others actually believed that
a rogue group of Nazis constructed a base there during World War II. But NASA proved
once and for all that the dark side of the moon is the same as the part we can see from
Earth.
It is still unnerving to think that this giant floating rock has such a huge impact on our
planet. If the moon was just a little bit closer or further away from us, it would be
catastrophic. And if a large enough asteroid ever hits it, the moon could be knocked out
of its orbit and possibly even collide with Earth.
#9 https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011400/a011446/c-1024.jpg
Volcanic eruptions are terrifying. In the blink of an eye, millions of pounds of smoke,
ash, and lava can be sent spewing into the air, killing everything around it. And astronomers
were incredibly scared when they captured this image of an eruption from space. You
can see smoke and ash floating above the clouds after being blown several miles into the air.
And the scariest part is, this isn’t even a large eruption.
There are several “supervolcanoes” on Earth that could change all life as we know
it if they erupt. For example, if the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts; it could bury Wyoming,
Montana, Idaho, and Colorado in three feet of volcanic ash. This would kill almost every
single living thing in those areas, and that’s not even to mention the damage caused by the
massive lava flow. That’s why this photo of a small eruption scared astronomers, it
made them realize just how deadly a supervolcano really would be.
#10 https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/satellite-image-of-nuclear-explosion-stocktrek-images.jpg
Although it might look like another volcanic eruption at first, this man-made explosion
is way scarier than any natural phenomenon. This is the first picture of a nuclear blast
ever taken from space. And while most people know how destructive nuclear weapons are,
astronomers were still horrified to see how big the impact is.
Nuclear weapons have only been used in war twice. America used two of them against Japan
in World War II; and after seeing the world-ending capabilities of these weapons, agreements
were signed to ensure that no one would ever use them again. But that doesn’t mean countries
stopped building them. As of today, there are still over 13,000 nuclear weapons in the
world. And if someone ever decides to hit “launch,” it will likely be the end of
life on Earth.
Ok guys that’s all of the photos of Earth that scared astronomers for this video! Don’t
forget to like, comment, and subscribe if you liked it. And hit the notification bell
so you don’t miss out on our newest content. Thanks so much for watching!