Buzz
While the night sky seems to stand still, the universe is anything but. Cutting-edge research tracks its movement, revealing an increasingly bizarre and awe-inspiring array of phenomena.
At times, answers arrive with flair, while mysteries present new challenges. From the tiniest diamond on Earth to the largest known structure in the universe, space keeps surprising, amazing, and even terrifying us with a wealth of new revelations.
10. A Planetary Nursery
In 2018, a observatory in Chile turned its gaze to nearby stars, uncovering a collection of dusty disks that filled the telescope’s lens. This group was quite the mix. Some displayed rings that glimmered with varying intensities, while others resembled hamburgers in shape. Their size and angle also varied.
Yet all the disks contained the building blocks of future planets—dust, gas, and planetesimals. The fact that these disks surrounded young stars strengthens the idea that they’re nurturing the creation of new worlds.
These stars are almost a million years old, which is incredibly young by cosmic standards. The discovery of these darkened circles might allow scientists to peer back in time, offering insights into how our solar system formed its planets. Furthermore, by better understanding the regions where planets are born, we could uncover what our solar system looked like during its early years, roughly four billion years ago.
9. The Billion-Year Shift
The time it takes for each planet in the solar system to rotate around its axis and orbit the Sun was established long ago. A diverse team of scientists from the United States, China, and Australia, however, turned their focus to galaxies. Their goal was similar: to determine the period of one complete galactic rotation.
To their surprise, the answer was a billion years. The remarkable part wasn’t just the vast timescale, but the fact that it applies to every galaxy, regardless of its size or density. Like clocks, every galaxy makes a full rotation every billion years.
Since the rotation mainly occurs at the outer edges of spiral galaxies, scientists uncovered yet another surprising detail. While they had always thought that the outer regions of galaxies were sparsely populated with young stars and gas, they also found a substantial population of older stars in these areas.
8. A Surprisingly Nearby Asteroid
More than a century ago, an asteroid exploded over Tunguska, leveling 500,000 acres of forest. Then, in April 2018, out of the blue, another space rock shot past Earth. Named 2018 GE3, it was only detected a day before its unexpected close pass.
The encounter was particularly alarming because 2018 GE3 could have been larger than the Siberian asteroid of 1908. With a size between 48–110 meters (157–360 ft) wide, at its largest, it was nearly four times the size of its Tunguska predecessor.
During its April 15 flyby, the asteroid passed much too close, traveling just 192,000 kilometers (119,400 mi) from Earth. For context, the Moon is nearly twice that distance away.
While its impact wouldn’t have caused global destruction, 2018 GE3 was still a significant threat. It was up to six times larger than the rock that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, an event that caused property damage over 93 kilometers (58 mi) away and injured over 1,000 people.
Perhaps most unsettling was the stealthy approach of 2018 GE3, which went unnoticed until the very last day.
7. A Fading Icon
If space tourists were to pass by Jupiter, the planet’s most famous feature would undoubtedly be part of the itinerary. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, the largest storm in the solar system, has been swirling for about 188 years. However, this Earth-sized storm might not make it to its 200th anniversary.
In 2018, NASA scientists revealed that the furious, hurricane-like storm was losing its intensity. In fact, the Great Red Spot has been shrinking for quite a while. When it was first observed in 1830, two Earths could easily fit inside the storm’s eye. Now, only one Earth and a fraction of a second could fit.
The exact reason for the storm’s weakening remains unclear, but at this rate, the mighty storm could vanish within the next 10 years. The Great Red Spot has lasted so long because it was trapped between two powerful jet streams. These opposing flows kept the storm stable in Jupiter’s atmosphere for almost two centuries.
6. The Diamonds of a Vanished Planet
In 2008, when meteorites fell across the Sudanese desert, they carried a fascinating history. Researchers found 50 fragments from what was once an asteroid about 4 meters (13 ft) in diameter. These small pieces were infused with nanodiamonds.
This marked the first time that traces of such precious stones had been discovered in something from outer space. The origins of the jeweled asteroid remained a mystery until a 2018 study unraveled its story. It likely came from a young planet and, astonishingly, dated back to the early days of the solar system.
In addition to uncovering a forgotten world, the diamonds offered clues about its size. The diamonds required specific conditions, especially immense pressure. For a planet’s interior to create such pressure (above 20 gigapascals), it had to be as large as Mars or Mercury. Obviously, the diamond-rich world no longer exists and likely perished in a cosmic collision. Remarkably, one fragment eventually made its way to Sudan billions of years later.
5. The Milky Way's Map
After a year-long voyage through space, a probe named Gaia entered orbit around the Sun. Weighing 1,390 kilograms (3,000 pounds), the spacecraft had one primary task—to create a detailed map of the Milky Way.
In 2016 and 2018, Gaia's data was released, unveiling a breathtaking color map of 1.7 billion stars. The probe also pinpointed the exact positions of around 14,000 other objects sharing the Sun’s orbit.
The European Space Agency, the masterminds behind the most precise 3-D map of our galaxy, didn’t keep the discovery to themselves. The interactive map is available for anyone curious enough to explore the Milky Way. Additionally, Gaia calculated the distance and motion of nearly every object it identified.
The sheer volume of data is enough to keep researchers occupied for the rest of their careers. Remarkably, Gaia's work is far from over. To date, it has surveyed an estimated 2 percent of the Milky Way, and it is anticipated that this will eventually reveal around 100 billion stars.
4. An Earth-Sized Mercury
Though it bears the unremarkable name of K2-229b, a newly discovered planet has become a star in the scientific community—particularly among those who study planetary density. About 20 percent larger than Earth and richer in metal than rock, this distant world surprised researchers by being as dense as Mercury.
Both K2-229b and Mercury are the innermost planets of their respective solar systems. However, K2-229b is much closer to its sun, leading to a scorching daytime temperature of 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 °F).
By carefully monitoring its star and tracking how it moved in relation to K2-229b's orbit, scientists were able to determine the planet’s mass, size, and position. With a mass approximately 2.6 times that of Earth, it stands as the densest Earth-sized planet discovered to date.
Beyond its surprising nature, this discovery suggests that such unusually dense planets may be more common than previously believed. If we can decode its formation, we may also unlock the mystery of how these high-density worlds come to be. Three primary theories have been proposed: one suggests solar damage to K2-229b’s atmosphere, another posits a planetary collision, and a third speculates that the planet formed from the same material as its star.
3. Birth Of Coma’s Rival
When astronomers first observed a bright spot at the far edge of the known universe, they couldn’t immediately comprehend the magnitude of what they had found. Eventually, it was identified as 14 galaxies merging in a cosmic collision. This discovery was enough to astonish even the most seasoned astronomers. These galaxies were starbursts, rapidly producing thousands of new stars.
While spotting one or two starburst galaxies merging is rare, finding 14 together is virtually unheard of. This cosmic collision has a fascinating twist: what scientists observed in 2018 actually occurred 12 billion years ago. The light from this event took so long to travel that it only just reached Earth. Through calculations, it was determined that these starbursts have since merged into the core of a galaxy cluster, now large enough to rival the Coma Cluster.
The Coma Cluster, containing over 1,000 galaxies, holds the title of the largest known structure in the universe. Such colossal formations are extraordinarily rare, and to witness one coming into existence is an even rarer event.
This remarkable discovery still holds many unanswered questions. Researchers are puzzled by the close proximity of the 14 starburst galaxies, particularly since star formation was not at its peak during that era.
2. Neptune Rescued A Comet
In 2018, after the Rosetta probe had parked on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it sent back groundbreaking data revealing that it was not alone—it was accompanied by an unexpected companion. The comet, affectionately dubbed the 'rubber ducky' due to its distinct toy-like shape, was housing more than just ice and dust.
Comet 67P is also incredibly ancient, dating back to a time when the solar system was filled with more debris than planets. Measuring 4.1 kilometers (2.5 miles) in diameter, this odd object once drifted through a ring of cosmic rubble orbiting the Sun far beyond where Earth now lies.
According to all logical predictions, the rocky duck should not have survived. The intense collisions within the dust disk it came from should have obliterated it. Yet, miraculously, it continues its journey in the inner solar system. This defies the notion that the debris disk lasted for 400 million years. How could 67P have avoided countless cosmic impacts for so long?
Some scientists suggest that the comet’s improbable existence can be explained by a 10-million-year stay in the ring, increasing its chances of survival. They believe that Neptune might have played a role, scattering the disk after barreling through it. In that case, Comet 67P could be the last remnant of a significant chapter in Neptune’s early history.
1. A Black Hole Farm
Black holes, the deadly remnants of collapsed stars, devour everything in their path with an unrelenting hunger. Most infamously, not even light can escape their grasp.
While one black hole is terrifying enough, in 2018, astronomers uncovered hundreds of them by analyzing old X-ray data. These black holes, found at the center of the Milky Way, were busy devouring nearby stars, making them more detectable. However, many black holes go unnoticed because they are either hidden or not part of a binary system (where they feed off a companion star).
Given their elusive nature, it’s believed that around 10,000 black holes could be orbiting the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A. Elsewhere in the Milky Way, black holes are rarer, but their mass draws them toward the galactic center.
The newly discovered black holes each possess ten times the mass of our Sun. In comparison, Sagittarius A’s mass is equivalent to four million Suns. The galactic center, rich in gas and dust, provides the perfect conditions for the creation and retention of these powerful black holes.
