in april of 2021 we hit our diamond anniversary or
60th year of human interaction with space this long-term relationship has given us joy
fear excitement and anxiety yet we keep coming back for more we long to discover any outrageous
or spectacular images and facts they may give us hints and clues to the big question
what is our place and purpose in this ever expanding universe welcome to fact nominal
where today we will uncover 10 more insane space discoveries and revelations that have happened
just this year strap in folks were headed to the far reaches of the galaxy
nasa's tests or transceiving exoplanet survey satellite telescope has made a fascinating new
discovery two dwarf stars that are smaller than our own sun have been tracked down toi 2076 and
1808 may be about 30 light years apart but they move in the same direction and are apparently the
same age this means they were likely formed around the same time and in the same place like fraternal
twins large and gassy balls of energy while toi 2076 has three planets revolving around it
toi 1808 has one fast-moving planet making orbit every five days or less we're still watching
for clarity here surprisingly all the planets are around the same size larger than earth but smaller
than neptune these planets are in their awkward teenage years where they transition from wild
and unformed to productive members of the universe ultimately scientists hope that monitoring these
exoplanets will help us understand the formation of our own solar system better
for all you budding astronomers out there there's hope that you too could make a remarkable
discovery it's been over 400 years since galileo discovered the largest of the over 70 moons around
jupiter just recently kai lee found yet another one a first for an amateur astronomer lee did
this by studying previous images and research data this discovery has scientists wondering just how
many moons may still be hovering around jupiter undetected there could be dozens or even hundreds
more out there just when you think we've got a grip on our own solar system science uncovers more
secrets this new moon is part of the karm group of jovian satellites a bunch of small and awkward
shaped space rocks that orbit jupiter backwards or retrograde apparently lee was rifling through
data on summer break before heading back to school reminding us all maybe to up our hobby game a bit
someone call the adams family we have found something else mysterious and spooky for them
we have known about the massive and beautiful galaxy of centaurus a since 1949
what we haven't had is the high frequency technology to see it in such a brilliant way
until now new images from the event horizon telescope just captured the unworldly images of
a powerful jet being ejected from a supermassive black hole scientists love learning more about
black holes as they have long represented the great unknown in the galaxy while they are still
uncovering what causes this strange and wondrous phenomenon these images are revealing why are some
parts of the jet brighter than others are jets like this one crashing against galactic gases
what is the environment around the black hole that would allow for an event like this to happen
researchers hope that in the years to come our increased tech abilities
will allow for further study of black holes and their surroundings
a little closer to home nasa's interstellar boundary explorer or ibex has provided
valuable information to finally fully map the solar and wind bubble that protects earth
this is a ribbon-like invisible structure part of the heliosphere a shield comprised of solar
winds while we first discovered this structure over a decade ago we now know what ibex observed
were energetic neutral atoms or enas that come off the sun and crash against interstellar electrons
while all very scientific this new knowledge will allow heliophysicists to study other
planets atmospheres more thoroughly and gain a better understanding of stars
their winds solar eruptions and how those factors affect their orbiting planets
salt can preserve a mummy but also kill a slug nasa's mission to mars allows the curiosity rover
to roam the red planet for any trace of ancient life recently curiosity was checking out a 3.6
billion euro crater because the ground there is clay rich clay usually at some point had access
to water which we know is the key stone of life however it looks like some very briny water may
have destroyed evidence of ancient microorganisms in the rocks one section of the crater had only
half the expected amount of clay minerals and more iron oxides which destabilized the clay
layers and wiped away any evidence of biological life while one of the microorganisms may have died
curiosity is drilling down further to see if this briny water could have chemically
created some other kinds of life in its wake with the perseverance mars rovers addition
to the planet the two machines will work together to study and bring more information to scientists
imagine watching the slowest train wreck you have ever seen here's the newest shot of it happening
now the incredible resource the hubble space telescope has provided us front row seats to the
action you are looking at a catastrophic celestial crash waiting to happen the pair ic 1623 happen to
be about 275 million light years away and are in the final stages of a powerful collision
while this isn't necessarily a new discovery this latest picture has experts solidly predicting
what we should see happen next there will be a powerful igniting of gases which will ultimately
lead to the creation of a compact starburst galaxy this discovery is so valuable because
scientists can further study the creation of stars and galaxies with real tangible evidence
it's not the tasty pastry but the newly discovered theory that the universe could be shaped like a
donut making headlines physicists have been studying light from the earliest days of the
universe and a group of them has theorized that our universe could be multi-connected
and three-dimensional establishing a finite but massive interwoven system
the shape of our universe has long been debated is it a flat disc is it ever expanding and growing
outwards just because it is believed to be flat doesn't mean it doesn't have multiple dimensions
and that is what scientists are reviewing now by studying the
pattern of dark matter dark energy regular matter radiation gravity and other factors
this group of astrophysicists adds the concept of topology or how shapes change to the mix
they've also reviewed recent discoveries in the cosmic microwave background the cmb
for little bumps and changes that would support this theory while computations and experiments
have not provided solid results yet the team is bolstered by their recent observations in the data
time will tell if these scientists have turned a corner on this cosmic debate
with all the amazing things we see when we peer into the galaxy seeing gigantic comets floating
through space is almost boring nowadays however when there is noticeable activity on a gigantic
comet that makes news recently astronomers in new zealand were the first to spot a zone
of gas and dust on the mega comet bernardinelli bursting which could be the largest comet found
in recorded history it wasn't just a trick of light or glitch in the photography but an
actual image of gas releasing from a comet that is about double the distance from the sun to saturn
2.8 billion kilometers being so far from a heat source astronomers are longing to find out more
about the core of this comet unfortunately this mega comet won't get close enough to earth for
us to study closely for another decade even then it will still be well beyond saturn so
hopefully our technology will grow enough for us to study this comet further
the hubble telescope strikes again while experts are convinced that dark matter is the binder of
a galaxy like the invisible egg in your meatloaf the hubble telescope recently uncovered a galaxy
that seemed to have none findings like this can change the course of science completely
anomalies happen all the time in science could this be any different the galaxy df-2
is apparently further away than first estimates thought at 72 million light years distance which
leads experts to believe there is even less dark matter within the galaxy than predicted initially
the lack of dark matter makes this a see-through galaxy where the stars are widely spread out
in fact df2 has only 1 200th of the number of stars we have here in the milky way
it also doesn't appear shaped like a typical galaxy and may have only 1 400th of the dark
matter astronomers expected while rare this has happened before and is perhaps an anomaly in the
universe as the other galaxy without much dark matter was formed around the same time
most of us think a planet needs a star to orbit around but that's apparently not the case recently
astronomers have found many free-floating or orphaned planets out there in the universe
the newest batch of rogue planets found by the kepler space telescope offers new insights
scientists theorized that these exoplanets were originally formed by a host star
but were eventually lured away by gravity or a larger planet
to know more about these orphan planets we will need to expand our technological abilities
hopefully future missions with nasa's newest nancy grace roman space telescope
will lead to more insights and help us understand these interstellar nomads if you'd like to hear
more about any of these discoveries drop us a comment below and if you enjoyed this video
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