Buzz
It’s no secret that the universe is a chaotic domain of destruction. This comes as no surprise when we remember that it originated from the most massive "explosion" in existence. The Big Bang sprang from nothingness, releasing energies of unimaginable heat—trillions of degrees—creating exotic matter in the process. Roughly 400,000 years later, the universe found a brief calm in the form of stable hydrogen, helium, and traces of lithium and beryllium. Yet, this serenity didn’t last, as the universe quickly spiraled back into disorder.
10. A quasar that consumes a star every day
Picture the magnitude of energy needed to obliterate and consume our Sun. Now, imagine such a force doing this daily. This force exists in the form of J2157.
J2157 holds the title of the fastest-growing black hole ever discovered. It is incomprehensibly massive—34 billion times the mass of our Sun. Additionally, it is the brightest quasar ever observed, a relentless destroyer of stars, consuming the equivalent of one star each day.
And just as mind-bendingly distant as it is destructive, J2157 lies 12.5 billion light-years away from Earth. This enormous black hole, from a time when the universe was only about a billion years old, was not expected to be so gigantic.
To truly grasp the overwhelming scale of J2157, consider this: it is 8,000 times more massive than Sagittarius A*, the black hole with a mass of 4 million suns that resides in the center of our Milky Way. Even with a mass equivalent to 4 million suns, Sagittarius A* would need to devour over 60% of the Milky Way’s stars just to match J2157’s sheer mass.
9. A cosmic collision creates a world made of iron
The universe is brimming with cataclysmic planetary collisions, but these destructive events also give birth to entirely new worlds: worlds that are ten times the size of Earth and composed predominantly of metal.
Kepler-107c orbits a Sun-like star in the Kepler 107 system, located 1,700 light-years from Earth. By analyzing the shift in light wavelengths from this distant system, astronomers have uncovered the first-ever evidence of a planetary apocalypse taking place beyond our solar system.
Kepler-107c was born from a cosmic collision, measuring around 1.5 times the radius of Earth and composed of 70% iron by mass. This super-dense planet holds 12.6 grams of material per cubic centimeter, compared to Earth's 5.5 grams.
Kepler-107c has a lighter sibling, Kepler-107b, which is about the same size but only weighs around Earth masses. Its density is closer to Earth's, at 5.3 grams per cubic centimeter, and its iron core makes up only 30% of its total mass.
This implies that Kepler-107c, with its unexpected iron-rich composition, underwent a catastrophic collision at nearly 40 miles per second. The impact stripped away its light silicate mantle, leaving behind a deeply scarred iron core with little else remaining.
8. A black hole is torn from its galaxy
Black holes play a crucial role in shaping the universe. Their immense gravity carves out space-time, providing the gravitational foundation for the formation of galaxies. This is why they are typically located at the centers of galaxies.
Celestial forces are powerful enough to tear black holes away from their galaxies and send them soaring through space. Such is the fate of the black hole XJ1417+52, discovered by both the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the XMM Newton X-ray Observatory, two space-based instruments that detect the universe in X-rays.
Black hole XJ1417+52 resides 4.5 billion light-years away in the farthest reaches of a galaxy named GJ1417+52. It is emitting an incredible volume of X-rays, setting two cosmic records: it’s ten times farther and ten times brighter in X-rays than any other rogue black hole ever discovered.
XJ1417+52 has a mass equivalent to 100,000 Suns and once anchored its own galaxy. However, this galaxy collided with the much larger GJ1417+52, which claimed the black hole, along with its orbiting stars.
7. Galaxies collide and tear each other apart near the Milky Way
The Milky Way’s immense gravitational pull attracts several smaller satellite galaxies. The most well-known among them, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), collided a few hundred million years ago.
The aftermath of that ancient cosmic collision continues to unfold. The southeast portion of the Small Magellanic Cloud, known as the "Wing," is drifting away from the rest of the galaxy. The stars in this region are traveling in the same direction and at similar speeds, offering a snapshot of a collision that occurred hundreds of millions of years ago.
If the stars were moving in different directions, it would imply that the SMC and LMC passed each other without colliding. However, the runaway region of the SMC is headed directly toward the LMC, confirming that the two galaxies collided head-on.
6. Gravity dismantles smaller galaxies
In the case of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), its demise is unfolding before our eyes. Some galaxies perish in a dramatic fashion, ripped apart by the immense gravity of larger objects, while the SMC faces a slower, less dignified death.
Though the SMC is one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye, at a staggering 200,000 light-years away, it lacks the mass to hold on to its gas and dust. As a result, it is rapidly losing its vital hydrogen gas into the vastness of space.
Gravity is the silent executioner for the SMC, as it doesn’t possess enough of it. For every star the SMC creates, it loses ten times that amount in gas.
However, the SMC may still experience a noble death, earning its place in the cosmic Valhalla. Researchers believe it will eventually be absorbed by the Milky Way before it completely disintegrates. Many other smaller galaxies may not share such a fate.
5. Solar systems hurl planets toward their star
Mercury, our closest planet, takes just 88 days to orbit the Sun. However, many super-Earths that have been observed complete an orbit around their stars in just a few days. New evidence also points to a peculiar phenomenon that sends planets spiraling toward their suns.
The formation of solar systems is a complicated process, with numerous forces in play. Magnetic forces, collisions—both small and large—between swirling bodies, and, of course, gravity all shape the process. When conditions align just right, these forces can push multiple planets into a tight, chaotic path toward their sun.
The disk of particles that forms planets, along with the planets themselves, can sometimes become locked in synchronized orbits. This phenomenon, known as "resonance," occurs as the planets and the disk exert gravitational forces on each other.
As a result, the planets begin tumbling inward, gradually migrating toward the inner regions of their solar system. They end up in orbits that are too hot and barren to allow for the formation of new planets.
4. Galaxy clusters collide and merge
Galaxy clusters travel through space at millions of miles per hour, and occasionally, they collide and merge. In some extremely rare instances, four galaxy clusters can combine, forming one of the most massive structures the universe has ever witnessed.
Located about 3 billion light-years from Earth, the universe is in the process of assembling a colossal collection of galaxy clusters called Abell 1758. Each cluster contains potentially thousands of stars, all of which have been drawn together by a powerful gravitational force.
Abell 1758 is divided into two pairs of galaxy clusters. In the northern pair, the two clusters had already passed by each other around 300 million years ago. During their close encounter, they mixed their heavier elements in a cosmic whirl, like a pinky promise that they’ll eventually reunite.
The shockwave from this ancient collision is like a cosmic sonic boom, revealing the incredible forces at play. The clusters, each made up of thousands of stars, collided at speeds of 2-3 million miles per hour. Gravity is drawing them back toward each other, and in time, they will merge with the other two clusters, creating a colossal quadruple-cluster formation.
3. Hot Jupiter-like planets face a fiery end
NGTS-10b is the closest orbiting hot Jupiter ever discovered. This gas giant is 20% larger and twice as massive as Jupiter. It orbits its 10-billion-year-old star with incredible speed, completing an orbit in just 18 hours.
When a planet orbits so close to its star that its year is shorter than an Earth day, it’s bound to become extremely hot. NGTS-10b is getting scorched, though its star is 1000 degrees cooler than our Sun and only 30% as massive. Still, the planet orbits 27 times closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun.
The average temperature on NGTS-10b is roughly 1000°C (1800°F). However, since it’s likely tidally locked, there are extreme temperature differences between the planet’s day side and night side.
NGTS-10b might be approaching the final stages of its life. In just 10 years, astronomers could witness its last plunge as it spirals into its star’s fiery embrace.
2. Galaxies collide, giving birth to millions of stars
Galactic collisions often bring to mind images of chaos and destruction. Yet, while galaxies may be torn apart and stars flung into space, these cosmic crashes also lead to the birth of numerous new stars. One of the earliest instances of this phenomenon happened when the universe was just a billion years old.
Even at the dawn of the universe, galaxies were already tangled in a chaotic cosmic dance. Two of these galaxies, located 13 billion light-years away, collided with a gas-rich blob called B14-65666. This blob, though not enormous, consists of two galaxies that together make up just 10% of the Milky Way’s mass—typical for such an early time in the universe’s history.
Despite its size, the blob is 100 times more active in star formation than our much larger galaxy. Galactic collisions compress vast clouds of gas, triggering intense bursts of stellar creation by literally forcing stars into existence.
1. Black holes feast and erupt like fountains
While black holes seem to be surrounded by a calm, donut-shaped disk, they’re actually spewing super-heated matter in every direction, almost like a fountain.
When black holes are presented with massive amounts of gas and dust, even their insatiable hunger can't consume it all. The debris forms a disk of gas spiraling inward, plunging with extreme force into the black hole’s core. This gas is heated to millions of degrees, breaking down into its individual atoms and ions, which are then expelled back into the galaxy.
Some of the black hole’s expelled material escapes into space, never to be seen again. But much of the incredibly hot atomic gas is pulled back in by the immense gravitational force, circulating like water in a fountain, continuing the cycle of destruction and creation.
