PERPLEXING MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Added on: 30th Jul 2016
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BLACK HOLES
COLLIDE?
Theory suggests that when two black holes come close enough
to where they cannot escape each other’s gravity they will
merge and become a bigger black hole. Such an event would
be extremely violent and truth be told even when
simulating this event on powerful computers, they still can’t
fully understand it. A black hole merger would produce
tremendous energy and send massive ripples through the
space-time fabric of the universe. However, nobody has
witnessed black hole collisions as of yet.
WHAT CREATED SATURN’S RINGS?
The most accepted theory at this time is that Saturn’s rings
probably formed when objects like comets, asteroids, or
even moons broke up in orbit around the planet due to its
strong gravity. The pieces of these objects kept colliding
with each other and broke into even smaller pieces.
WHERE DID ALL THE LITHIUM GO?
According to standard cosmology theory, Lithium, together with
hydrogen and helium, is one of three elements to have been
synthesized in the Big Bang. Therefore, we should see a
uniform abundance of Lithium throughout the universe.
However, we don’t. By experimental observation, the older
stars seem to have less Lithium than they should, and some
younger stars have far more. Why? We don’t really know.
HOW DID THE MOON FORM?
Where did our quiet, beautiful satellite that makes our nights
more friendly and romantic come from? Scientists and
philosophers have been wondering about this for centuries.
The first modern idea about the formation of the moon
was the fission theory (by George Darwin, son of Charles).
However, the most widely accepted theory is that the
moon was formed when a large object (about the size of Mars)
slammed into the Earth billions of years ago. The collision
then turned the newly formed Earth into a molten ball
of rock and ejected material into orbit.
WHY DID MARS DRY OUT?
We already know from our landers and orbiters that water once
flowed in streams and great floods across the now barren
landscape of Mars. What we don’t know and are trying to
understand is why the Red Planet became so dry and
inhospitable. Theories range from an asteroid impact
blowing most of the atmosphere into space in a
catastrophic event or solar wind erosion.
WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS?
One of the greatest mysteries of observational astronomy
during the past three decades has been the nature of
gamma-ray bursts. We can recognize and observe them
but we still have no idea why they randomly appear
and why they happen.
WHAT IS DARK ENERGY?
According to the most accepted theory at this point, dark
energy is supposed to act in opposition to gravity and
occupy the entire universe, accounting for most of the
energy in it (roughly 68%) and causing its expansion to
accelerate. Other than this, dark energy is a
complete mystery.
DID THE BIG BANG REALLY HAPPEN?
Our universe, according to Einstein’s theories, is around 13.8
billion years old and formed from an infinitely small point
during the Big Bang. While most scientists today seem to
accept this model, the scientific community still can’t
explain what happened inside this tiny point – called a
singularity – or what came before it. In reality, we can
only speculate how the Big Bang happened.
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