- Hey there, how are ya?
You're lookin' out of this world.
Space is filled with an unimaginably large number of things;
things that benefit us, like sunshine from the sun,
and gravity, which keeps us in orbit
and basically prevents us from (whistles)
flying into the abyss.
But there are plenty more things that have been found
in space that are very dangerous to human life,
things that are real threats that, should we ever
come across them, would be a big problem for us.
- [Astronaut] Okay, we've had a problem here.
- Here are the 10 Most Dangerous Things Found in Space.
Number 10 are comets.
Comets continually orbit around star systems,
but these naturally-occurring propelled masses
of ice and rock are very dangerous.
From studying comets in our own star system,
we know that they are icy bodies which,
when warmed by the rays of our sun,
release gas and dust, creating a huge tail behind them.
This jet-like process propels these objects
around the solar system, but because comets
propel themselves while being pulled around
by the gravitational forces of the solar system,
their orbits are eccentric and not always easily calculated.
There are well over 5,000 comets in our solar system
with thousands more potentially out there
just flying around.
Some of these comets have nuclei
measuring up to 100 kilometers.
Literally, if one of these ever hit our planet,
the energy released would wipe out, um, all of us.
There's something to think about
while you go to bed tonight.
Number nine are asteroids.
Asteroids are rocky objects which orbit a star.
And like comets, they can crash into planets,
causing devastation.
For the most part, asteroids tend to be fragments of rock
formed during the early stages of a star system.
Otherwise, they can be the debris left over
from large collisions involving planets or moons,
or even the remnants of a larger rock body
torn apart by gravitational forces.
In some rare cases, they may have even originated
from other star systems and were fired into our solar system
during a supernova or other high-energy event.
Through gravitational attraction,
asteroids can be put on a crash course with a planet.
Oh, by Matt, that would never happen.
That's only in the movies.
Actually, it's happened to Earth before.
And scientists believe that there are
so many asteroids out there, it's not a matter of if
but a matter of when this happens again.
Where's Bruce Willis when you need him?
Number eight are coronal ejections.
Coronal objections from stars have the potential
to cripple technology and even burn off
parts of the planet's atmosphere.
In case you didn't know, we need that.
While they're actually very common,
these ejections just need to be the correct strength
and trajectory to cause mayhem
for anything caught in their path.
It's assumed that, just like our own sun,
all stars produce such events,
and so this would be a hazard
to ever star system in the universe.
Coronal ejections usually occur during a sun flare,
which is a sudden increase in energy output
on the surface of a star.
Though some flares do not result in coronal ejections,
when they do the star spews out hot,
radiated clouds of plasm.
When this shockwave of plasma reaches a planet,
it can cause geomagnetic storms
which tears electrons from electronic devices
and may even expose any present life to cosmic radiation.
And I know the comics make that sound cool,
like you're gonna turn into Bruce Banner, the Hulk,
but that's most likely not gonna happen.
You're more likely just gonna have
hands growing out your face.
Number seven are interstellar planets.
We commonly think of planets as masses
of rock or gas which orbit a star.
But there are planets out there without a home,
and if one of them wandered into a star system,
it could be disastrous.
Hey, just a planet looking for a home.
Oh, what is that, Earth?
I'm comin' for ya.
These interstellar planets spin through space
without orbiting a star.
It's believed this occurs when a planet
either flung out of a planetary system
by gravitational forces or when a planet
forms from debris outside of a stellar region.
Some of these planets may even be failed stars
which didn't reach enough mass to ignite.
It's possible that an interstellar planet
could pass close enough to a star system
to be pulled into it.
For example, if a new planet
were suddenly mushed into our star system,
basically there would just be constant planetary collisions.
And it's not Like there's just a few of them.
It's estimated that there are billions
of these worlds out there as we speak,
wandering alone through the cosmos.
Yeah, that's not good.
Do interstellar restraining orders exist?
Number six are high-velocity stars.
High-velocity stars are some of the most dangerous
objects in the universe.
They move faster than the stars in their local neighborhood,
and so they have potential to collide
with other star systems.
Like an interstellar game of bumper cars,
except everyone dies.
There are three types of high-velocity stars.
These are runaway stars, halo stars,
and hyper-velocity stars.
Of these three, it's hyper-velocity stars
which are the most dangerous.
And also have the coolest name.
These stars can have velocities which are so high
that they can escape the gravitational pull
of an entire galaxy.
Interestingly, no one is quite sure how they even form,
although some theories suggest
that each hyper-velocity star previously orbited
a second star, which then exploded and accelerated
the surviving star to hyper-velocity.
If a hyper-velocity star entered our star system,
it could pull planets into its fiery embrace.
(laughing maniacally)
It's so romantic.
Number five is a supernova.
A supernova is a devastatingly dangerous space explosion.
They occur at the end of a massive star's lifespan,
when a titanic explosion takes place,
creating a light source which can easily outshine
most of the stars around it.
These events have been recorded in the night sky many times,
especially with Kepler's Supernova in 1604,
visible to the naked eye
even though it was 20,000 light years away.
When the explosion occurs, the dying star
expels much of its matter at 10% the speed of light.
This gigantic shockwave has the potential
to destroy basically anything in its path.
Hey everybody, get ready to die.
You better watch out.
Now, while these events are rare,
some people believe that dim white dwarf stars
could explode in this way,
which could happen suddenly with almost no warning.
But luckily, no such candidates
have been found close to Earth, yet.
So, just saying, you might want to cross your fingers
that our interstellar neighborhood is a safe one.
Number four are rogue black holes.
Black holes are among the most fascinating objects
in the cosmos.
But one theory suggests that their destructive power
could be waiting just around the corner.
Hey, hey there.
I'm a black hole.
I'm destructive.
Known as rogue black holes, these gigantic objects
are capable of strolling into a star system
and swallowing it up.
Basically like an all you can eat planet buffet.
They're produced when a star collapses in on itself,
creating a point in space where gravity is so strong,
even light can't escape from it.
What's worse is that they can't be observed directly,
and we can only detect them
when we see their gravitational influence.
While a supermassive black hole can be spotted
moving around a distant galaxy,
there actually is one that is much closer to home.
Known only as the Bullet, this probable rogue black hole
is moving against the rotation of our Milky Way galaxy
and could destroy any system it encounters.
Oh, don't worry, if you haven't lost sleep yet
based on our impending doom, we got three more to go.
Number three are gamma rays.
Gamma ray bursts are one of the most energetic explosions
in the entire universe.
If one of them hit Earth, the consequences would be ...
What's the word?
Deadly.
They're caused by a rapidly rotating, high-mass star
collapsing in on itself.
This creates a neutron star, quirk star or black hole
and releases a beam of radiation in the process.
These bursts contain more energy in just a few seconds
than our sun will release across its estimated
10-billion-year-long life.
If one of these bursts is directed at Earth,
it would deplete our ozone
and expose us to harmful cosmic radiation.
Now, the good news is is that scientists believe
that it is unlikely than an event like this will happen.
But some also believe that a gamma ray burst
was responsible for the Ordovician extinction
around 455 million years ago.
In case you don't know what that is,
that event wiped out nearly 85% of marine species.
So that's bad news for fishermen.
Number two is galactic cannibalism.
No, this isn't aliens eating themselves.
Let me explain.
Galactic cannibalism is one of the most dangerous
and terrifying events in the known universe.
Galaxies contain billions of stars and planets,
and some may even have supermassive black holes
at their center.
This creates an immense amount of gravitational pull.
When the gravitational attraction of two galaxies
takes effect, a collision occurs which rips entire stars
and planetary systems out of their orbit.
Usually the larger galaxy absorbs
either a section of, or the entire smaller galaxy.
And scientists predict that this is going to happen
in the next five years.
(laughing maniacally)
No, no, I'm joking, I'm joking.
It's going to take four billions years,
when our galaxy will collide with the Andromeda galaxy,
with a 12% chance that our entire solar system
would be ejected from the newly-formed galaxy
out to wherever.
Good thing that by then Earth won't even be habitable
due to our sun expanding.
Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess?
And number one is the Big Rip.
Most cosmologists agree that the universe began
with a gigantic explosion known as the Big Bang,
but some believe that this event will inevitably lead
to the end of the universe itself,
known as the Big Rip.
This theory states that the universe will eventually
literally tear itself apart.
The idea is that, following the Big Bang,
the universe began expanding.
This expansion is still accelerating
due to an elusive force known as dark energy.
Those who support the Big Rip hypothesis
believe that this expansion will eventually
stretch the universe to an infinite point,
causing everything from galaxies to stars,
even subatomic particles themselves
to suddenly tear apart.
But hopefully this doesn't happen for a very long time.
A, because I want to live.
And B, I've got a lot of errands to do today.
It's just big list.
So those were the 10 most dangerous things found in space.
And if you guys enjoyed this or learned something,
be sure to give it a thumbs up.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my channel if you haven't yet.
And click the bell beside the subscribe button
to enable notifications so that you never miss a thing,
because I release new videos all the time.
Thank you guys for watching,
and I'll see you in the next one, goodbye now!