From the question of dark matter to interstellar cigars, here are 10 recent space discoveries…
10.
We Came Out of a Bubble
Up until late last year, scientists had a popular theory about how our solar system
came to be.
They thought our galaxy had been created near a supernova, which is an exploded star, using
a combination of 2 isotopes called aluminium-26 and iron-60.
What are isotopes?
Well put as simply as possible, it’s when a chemical element takes different forms but
shares certain properties, while at the same time being different.
Got it?
Ok so stay with me…
By studying ancient meteorites it was observed the aluminium isotope was there at the start
of the solar system in large quantities, but less so for the iron.
That means a slight problem for the old theory… as supernovas throw out both isotopes.
It calls the whole cosmic dealio into question!
So experts started looking round for other aluminium-heavy possibilities.
Which is when they considered something called a ‘Wolf-Rayet’ star.
A Wolf-Rayet star is a supermassive star up to 50 times bigger than the Sun.
It’s so incredibly hot that it spews its own surface out into space, carried by strong
winds.
As the material flies away the wind essentially becomes part of the Wolf-Rayet star’s surface
and a bubble is formed.
Theoretically dust and gas are trapped inside the bubble creating the right conditions for
stars to be born.
The name used for these bubbles is “stellar nurseries”.
Aww, doesn’t the thought of all those little baby stars make you feel all warm and fuzzy
inside?
Very warm in fact.
Go anywhere near that star and you’d melt in an instant…!
9.
Synestias
How do planets get made?
The prevailing wisdom is that they’re formed from things colliding in space and the resulting
wreckage turns into a planet.
That idea got a bit of a tweak last year when researchers suggested something called a ‘synestia’.
What’s a synestia?
You may be surprised to hear it’s a donut.
Yup, a giant spinning donut in deep space…!
The name comes from combining ‘syn’, meaning ‘together’ in Greek, and ‘Hestia’
who was the goddess of structures.
A ‘synestia’ is a structure that’s created when really big objects the size of planets
bash together.
These objects also have the same ‘angular momentum’, which basically means they’re
both spinning.
This combination of a huge collision and both objects spinning results in an epic donut
made out of extremely hot rock.
The momentum that comes from the two spinners smashing together gives it the ability to
go into orbit, which technically could mean this is how planets are created.
In fact similarities between the Earth and Moon has led scientists to think the two spheres
were once part of a big synestia.
So the implications of this donut-shaped theory are pretty huge.
8.
Does Dark Matter Exist?
All things are made of matter.
If you want to know what matter is then you’re probably sitting on it!
A chair is solid and has a definite mass, as does the floor it’s resting on, as does
the computer, phone or tablet you’re using to watch this video.
Basically if it takes up space in the universe it’s made of matter.
There are different forms of matter including dark matter.
Dark matter is thought to make up 80% of all the universe’s mass.
Pretty important then!
However, like with anything cosmological there’s a certain amount of guesswork involved and
there’s still so much we don’t know.
Dark matter theory has become an accepted way of explaining universal mass, and all
that “emptiness” in space, but recently people have started questioning how reliable
a theory this is.
Parts of the idea are pure speculation and could be replaced at any time the more we
discover about the universe.
So is there dark matter?
Or not??
And now for number 7, but first if you are new here welcome and be sure to subscribe
before you leave!
We have lots of new videos coming up!!
7.
Exomoons
Last Summer there was great excitement at the discovery of something in space believed
to be an exomoon.
An exomoon is a moon which orbits a planet in another solar system.
The find came via NASA’s Kepler telescope and gave people hope that their theory about
exomoons was correct.
The reason they’re supposed to be so exciting, apart from the fact it’s an alien moon which
let’s face it, is cool already, is that moons in our solar system have proved capable
of supporting life.
So if we spot a moon in another system it’s one step closer to possibly showing life exists
outside our galaxy.
Thrilling stuff huh?
It doesn’t mean to say the object is definitely an exomoon.
Closer analysis has led experts to state it’s unlikely to be that, due to the data not being
very good because the object is so far away.
So-called ‘exomoon hunters’, how would you like that for a job??, have said the evidence
is by no means conclusive.
In fact there are so many theories of how to spot an exomoon it becomes a confusing
process and the object could be anything, even some kind of satellite.
Watch this space for more details.
Get it, watch this ‘space’?
Eh, never mind…
6.
Kilonova
Last August a spectacular event happened when 2 neutron stars spiralled into one another
in deep space.
A neutron star is what remains when a star explodes.
It’s made up of powerful neutrons and dense matter.
When neutron stars crash it’s like a major fireworks display in space… this light show
is called a kilonova!
Burning blue then red, the effect is caused by glowing debris from the neutron star collision.
A kilonova burns much brighter than a plain old regular nova.
Gravitational waves, x-rays and radio waves were also released, making this a true one
off for astronomers.
Over 70 observatories joined forces to study the kilonova and they found out some pretty
neat stuff.
For example it was confirmed for them that gamma ray bursts were caused by colliding
neutron stars.
Also it’s believed elements like silver, gold and platinum come from these types of
events.
Gold could be raining down from the sky at any moment!!
5.
Super Earth
I mentioned an ‘exomoon’ before, well this is an ‘exoplanet’.
An exoplanet is a planet found outside our solar system orbiting a star.
And this one right here 39 light-years away in the constellation of Cetus is a doozy!
It’s been named ‘LHS 11406’ which isn’t very catchy so another name for it is ‘Super
Earth’.
Much better huh?
Experts called it that because like our planet, it’s capable of supporting life due to its
rocky terrain made up of irons and silicates.
Also the exoplanet is positioned in a so-called ‘habitable zone’.
That basically means water could be down there.
Super Earth is 5 billion years old, 11,000 miles in diameter and is 40% bigger than regular
Earth.
It orbits a red dwarf star which is a small, relatively cool star.
NASA won’t know a lot about it till they get their powerful James Webb telescope up
and running and that won’t happen till 2020 so I’ll keep you posted!
One major thing that was confirmed by the discovery is the existence of rocky planets
over 1.5 times bigger than Earth.
Before this it was assumed bigger planets were made of gas.
I’m of course not sure what it’d be like visiting a planet made of gas but one thing’s
for sure, leave the matches at home….
4.
Jupiter’s Spot
The vast orange and red spot on the surface of Jupiter has intrigued astronomers for centuries.
It’s actually a huge storm they’ve been observing since the 1870s though mention of
it goes back to the 1600s.
That storm has been going on for a long time!
The spot is made up of long bands of wind blowing at 400 mph.
What it does is eat little storms in a kind of medieval banquet of weather systems.
These smaller storms go round the planet and are consumed by Jupiter’s spot before being
sorta regurgitated and going round the surface again.
Epic but gross!
Since 1920 a decrease in the spot’s size has been noticed.
You can currently fit the Earth in there but before there was room for 3 whole Earths!
The reasons for it getting smaller aren’t known but apparently the spot is deepening
in colour and the storm is also getting taller as it shrinks so it’s like a column of wind.
We are now witnessing Jupiter’s shrinking spot!
3.
Moon Water
Okay so you may have heard this thing about how the Moon is made of cheese.
Well we hate to disappoint you Wallace & Gromit fans but the truth is it’s pretty rocky.
There’s water there also, though we only found this out a decade ago.
In 2010 it was thought a small ocean was beneath the surface, contrary to what was previously
assumed.
As with all these things speculation plays a major part!
We got a step closer to working out how much water is on the moon last year by studying
satellite data of ‘pyroclastic flows’.
Don’t know what a pyroclastic flow is?
Where have you been??!
Just kidding.
It sounds complicated but it’s kind of cool.
Pyroclastic flows relate to volcanic activity.
Yes in case you didn’t know the Moon has volcanoes!
Not only that but when they erupt they spew out these little glass beads made of crystallized
magma.
And inside those beads is a small amount of water.
That means there is definitely a lot of water under the surface of the Moon!
In the Seventies Apollos 15 and 17 took samples of the beads and brought them back for study.
Back then they had no way of telling if this was a widespread phenomena but now satellites
have revealed the presence of water beads from volcanoes across the Moon.
Water water everywhere…
2.
Brown Dwarf
In 2016 a planet-sized object was spotted 22,000 light years away.
The huge scale of it became a talking point among astronomers because by their calculations
it was 13 times the size of Jupiter, so that’s pretty big!
It was named ‘OGLE-2016-BLG-1190’.
Guys come on.
You’ve got to start giving these things proper names.
No-one has actually seen the planet-type object, they just know it’s there.
How do they know?
That’s due to the light from its parent star becoming brighter, meaning its light
was being focused by gravity coming off the new object.
When they see this it’s called a ‘gravitational microlensing event’.
That’s all well and good but what is this thing?
A working theory is it’s a brown dwarf, which is kind of a star that’s not quite
a planet and not quite a star.
Make your mind up brown dwarf!
What’s really interesting is that it was found somewhere called the ‘brown dwarf
desert’ where none have been seen before.
Whatever it is, it has an orbit of 3 whole years so experts will have to wait a fair
while longer for another shot at analyzing the dwarf.
“Analyzing the dwarf”.
Another cool thing astronomers do on a daily basis!
1.
Oumuamua
This extraordinary cigar-shaped object was seen late last year and is the first ever
interstellar object seen in our system.
It was spotted in Hawaii so was named ‘Oumuamua’, meaning “A messenger from afar arriving
first”.
It’s thought to be an asteroid and was travelling at an eye-watering 196,000 mph (315,400 km/h).
It was shooting through the stars on course for god knows where, having apparently been
dislodged from its position in space by the gravitational forces of huge gas planets.
These forces are so powerful it’s believed that is how Oumuamua got its long shape.
Yes despite being made of rock it got stretched like silly putty!
Asteroids or comets are referred to as ‘planetesimals’ and Oumuamua fits into that category, though
it also throws up more questions than answers.
It appears dry and doesn’t shed any gas or dust so people are assuming it’s an asteroid.
Doesn’t mean it is one of course!
Not like you can ask it to slow down so you can check, right?
Thanks for watching!
Are there any cool space discoveries you’ve heard of that you’d like to tell us about?
If so leave a message in the comments.
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