PECULIAR THINGS YOU CAN ONLY FIND IN OUTER SPACE
Added on: 12th Jan 2016
MAGNETIC CLOUD
A transient event observed in the solar wind, the magnetic cloud
is a possible manifestation of a coronal mass ejection
characterized by a strong magnetic field, smooth rotation
of the magnetic field vector and low proton temperature.
PILLARS OF CREATION
Resembling a picture from a sci-fi landscape, the pillars of creation
are actually a photograph taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in
the Eagle Nebula, some 7,000 light years from Earth. Composed of
cool molecular hydrogen and dust, the pillars are basically
seeds of new stars.
UNNOVA
Quite the opposite of supernova, the unnova is the last phase
of a star´s life, in which the star collapses on itself but without
emitting large number of particles or energy. In some cases,
only low-energy gamma radiation may be emitted.
ALCOHOL CLOUD
Located some 6,500 light years from our planet, there is a
gigantic cloud that contains a significant amount of ethanol.
Spanning almost 300 billion miles in outer space, the cloud
contains enough alcohol to fill 400 trillion pints of beer.
GRAVITATIONAL LENS
In space, gravity can do bizarre things including what
astronomers call gravitational lens, a phenomenon, in
which matter between a distant source and an observer bends
the light from the source, as it travels towards the observer.
Here’s a simulated gravitational lensing (black hole
going past a background galaxy).
SHOOTING STAR
It’s a well-known fact that what we call “shooting stars” are
actually meteorites falling through the atmosphere. However,
what you may not know is that shooting stars actually exist.
Mira for example is a red giant star that is shooting through
the galaxy fast enough to create a tail similar to what
we see in comets.
DIAMOND PLANET
Formally known as “55 Cancri e”, the diamond planet has a mass
of about 7.8 Earths and is thought to contain a large amount of
carbon much of which may be in the form of diamonds.
Forbes estimates that the planet may be worth about 27
nonillion dollars (that’s 27 followed by 30 zeros).
FREEZING STAR
While most of the known stars are very hot (e.g. the surface of the
Sun has a temperature of 10,000 F or 5,600 C), there has been
a cold star discovered quite recently. Formally known as
WISE 0855−0714, the freezing star is a brown dwarf
featuring temperatures between −55 to 8 F (- 48 to −13 C).
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