planets are of course very small from our perspective here on earth. You need a lot
of magnification. Literally look for
changes in the space time distance in our instruments as the gravitation wave goes by.
We've come to learn how the universe works that there are fundamental physical laws.
As humans get better at exploring space and our technology improves,
we are able to observe more stellar events and crazy cosmic phenomenon than ever before.
So, what have eagle-eyed scientists found?
Welcome to Factnomenal and today we’ll be delving deep into the cosmos in
‘10 insane space discoveries in 2021’.
1 - NEW SUPER EARTH
In the search for new exoplanets a team of scientists came across GJ 740-b, an enormous
rocky planet three times the mass of Earth which orbits a small red dwarf star, completing its
orbit is just under 2 and a half days. The planet lies 36 light years on Earth which is an
absolutely insane distance in human terms but is actually very close on the cosmic scale.
Its relatively close distance to Earth makes GJ 740-b
a promising candidate for more in depth observations once we develop more wide-diameter
telescopes which can peer deeper into the cosmos. Its proximity to Earth also opens
up the possibility of an interstellar adventure there in the distant future.
2 - HARNESSING ENERGY FROM BLACK HOLES
Black holes are absolute behemoths, able to grow to a mass billions of times greater than our sun
and consume entire solar systems for breakfast. Such intense objects have the potential to power
human civilization for millions of years but finding a theoretical way to extract
energy from black holes without falling into one has been difficult to say the least.
Recently a breakthrough was made where two physicists determined that we could safely
and efficiently extract energy from black holes by breaking and reforming magnetic
field lines at the event horizon, the point where not even light can escape a black hole.
While this method of energy generation is still just a theory it would have
significant consequences for our species if we could start using it.
3 - SPACE DUST FALLING TO EARTH
Space isn’t as empty as it may appear. As our planet traverses even seemingly clear parts of
space it comes into contact with space dust which burns up in the upper layers of the atmosphere and
leaves behind stunning streaks of light across the sky with the particles making up the space dust
remaining on Earth. For years we had no idea how much space dust was falling to Earth but thanks to
a 20-year study, we now know that a whopping 5200 tons of dust is added to the planet every single
year. This insane fact gives you no excuse for not being able to see shooting stars more often.
4 - LENGTH OF THE DAYS ON VENUS
Usually calculating the day length of a planet
is a trivial process. We've been able to do it for not only the planets in our solar system,
but also planets orbiting other stars that are light years away. Even though we can do this,
scientists have never been able to consistently calculate the day length of Venus which is the
closest planet to Earth. Why is this? Did they just get bored and give up? Not quite.
As it turns out the day length of Venus varies by up to 20 minutes as a result of its fast-moving
clouds which alter the spin of the planet. This discovery means we can finally explain why
scientists have never been able to agree on the amount of time for a day on Venus.
NUMBER 5 - NEW INFANT GALAXY
Astronomers have recently found a tiny galaxy, just 1% the size of the milky way,
which is in the early stages of its evolution. Most galaxies that are this small are hard to
find since they don’t emit a whole lot of light, but scientists were able to find this
galaxy through use of gravitational lensing which is where large objects such as galaxies
bend and magnify the light coming from objects behind them which allows us to study them more
closely. The discovery of this galaxy will allow researchers to find out more about how young
galaxies develop which will certainly be useful in determining how our own galaxy has evolved.
NUMBER 6 - OXYGEN ON MARS
One of the main issues with trying to get humans to live on Mars is
that we need an abundance of oxygen to survive,
and the red planet barely has an atmosphere, let alone enough oxygen to sustain a human.
Things have changed though thanks to NASA’s perseverance rover which
has now successfully converted carbon dioxide
from the thin Martian atmosphere into enough oxygen to sustain a human for 10 minutes.
This might not seem very impressive, but it shows that we can successfully produce oxygen on Mars.
NUMBER 7 - MOVING BLACK HOLE
For some time now it has been predicted that black holes could drift through the cosmos but
we’ve been unsuccessful in finding one of these moving behemoth’s,
until now. Researchers were able to use advanced techniques
to determine the speed of black holes compared to the speed of the galaxies they reside in.
A difference in speed would indicate that the black hole is moving.
The team conducted these measurements for 10 black holes and managed to find
that one black hole 230 million light years away was moving at 110,000 miles per hour
compared to its galaxy. This insane discovery adds such much-needed character to these huge objects.
NUMBER 8 - THE CORE OF STARS IS NOT FIXED
For some time, we’ve been able to measure the mass of stars across the cosmos but what
determined the mass of a star has remained a mystery. Some thought that a larger core
caused stars to be larger and heavier while others thought that all stars initially had a core of
similar size and that they would grow if there was readily available gas to be used as fuel.
This mystery was finally put to rest this year when a team studied the
formation of stars in a huge cloud of gas and eventually concluded that all stellar
cores have a similar mass at birth and grow as they consume more mass. With this study,
the mystery of the mass of stars can be put to rest.
NUMBER 9 - X RAYS ON URANUS
Earlier this year researchers were able to detect X-rays coming from Uranus for the first time.
This was to be expected since the sun produces plenty of X-rays that can be reflected by large
celestial bodies however another source of X-rays was also detected which hasn’t been
explained yet. This discovery could lead us to new information about our distant celestial neighbor.
NUMBER 10 - ENORMOUS SOLAR FLARE
Some researchers were observing the closest star to our sun,
Proxima Centauri, when suddenly it became 14,000 times brighter. The star had just
emitted a powerful solar flare more than 100 times powerful than anything ever emitted from our sun,
which is lucky, since a similar event in our solar system would not be great for us fragile humans.
Luckily, this spectacular event took place at a safe distance away.
Which discovery impressed you the most? What do you think we’ll find in the future?
Let us know in the comments below!