Since the dawn of time, mankind has stared up at the stars in wonder and awe. No matter how advanced we become, no matter how many new discoveries are made, space will always hold an element of mystery that captures our imagination and takes us to another level of existence. If you’re fascinated by outer space, here are 10 mind-blowing facts about outer space that will mesmerize you.
1) The Sun is dying
The Sun is an average star and will live for about 10 billion years. When it dies, in about 5 billion years, it will expand to become a red giant, consuming Mercury and Venus. Earth has a good chance of surviving as a burned cinder since it’s far enough away from our dying star that it won’t be incinerated but close enough that any oceans will evaporate. But don’t worry too much: Our planet will eventually get swallowed up by a newly formed white dwarf—the dead core of a star like our Sun—which should last another trillion years or so.
2) There's water in outer space
Despite being made up of 70% hydrogen and 27% oxygen, water remains relatively rare in space. According to astronomer David J. Eicher, only 0.001 percent of all matter in space is water; however, many of our solar system's planets have significant quantities of water - much more than Earth does. Jupiter alone has about 30 times as much ice as all of Earth's oceans combined! NASA reports that some comets may contain even more liquid than Earth's oceans!
3) Nobody knows what dark matter is
Scientists have hypothesized about what dark matter might be for decades—perhaps a type of subatomic particle. There’s a distinct possibility that it’s out there, but we just haven’t figured out how to detect it yet. In other words, if you’re looking for proof that aliens exist or are visiting Earth, you won’t find it in outer space. If anything is out there, scientists say they don’t expect any evidence to come from outer space anytime soon. We really don't know what's causing these things, said Dr.
4) Mars had an ocean once
Evidence suggests that 4 billion years ago, Mars had an ocean and was home to microbial life. It’s also thought that parts of its surface are rich in resources—including ice, water, and carbon dioxide—that could be useful for humans. NASA has plans to send a manned mission to Mars by 2030, but recently announced it would be making changes to its initial designs
5) Ancient galaxies discovered
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have discovered galaxies from just 600 million years after the Big Bang. The observations are also providing fresh insight into when and how fast stars turned on in those early galaxies. These youthful, sparkling blue jewels of faraway galaxies are seen as they were 13 billion years ago, not long after our 13.8-billion-year-old universe formed.
6) All black holes are not alike
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centre of galaxies vary in mass by several orders of magnitude. Astronomers have shown that SMBHs up to ~1012 M☉ are fed by cold gas and thus have a high accretion rate, meaning they convert matter into energy very efficiently. In contrast, smaller SMBs (~109–1010 M☉), which are found in starburst or merging galaxies, feed on hot gas and show low accretion rates. Theoretical models predict an even more extreme range of behaviour for intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs; 1011–109 M☉). There is some evidence for IMBHs but not enough to confirm their existence conclusively.
7) A star is being born right now
A star being born right now is an incredible, rare and spectacular event. In every galaxy in our Universe, there are hundreds of billions of stars, which all are constantly interacting with each other via gravity. Most stars live for billions or even trillions of years; a short life compared to a single human lifetime. However, when a massive cloud of gas collapses under its own gravity it can form dense pockets that become hot enough for hydrogen fusion reactions to begin...and so begins a new star’s life
8) Einstein was wrong about something BIG
Not only was Einstein wrong about many things, but he was also apparently mistaken when it came to his mass-energy equivalence formula. Albert Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2, made him a household name and won him a Nobel Prize in 1921. The problem is that we now know that matter and energy are different forms of each other—and that c is not actually constant at all! In fact, it appears to be getting smaller as time goes on. So much for being right all of the time...
9) Most stars we see aren't really there (asteroids!)
The vast majority of stars you see at night are actually light-years away—in fact, they’re tens of light-years away. What you’re really seeing is light that was emitted millions or even billions of years ago. This means when you look up into space, it’s like looking back in time; what we see now are ancient stars and galaxies. In some cases, we can even look back to a time before our own solar system existed
10) The moon has air AND water!
The moon has air and water! Yes, it’s true. We already knew that there was water on other planets in our solar system, but up until recently, we thought that Earth was unique in having liquid water on its surface. But recent discoveries have shown that not only is there water on Mars, Jupiter’s moon Europa may also have oceans underneath its icy surface—and Saturn’s moon Enceladus may have an ocean of saltwater beneath a layer of ice. All of these places are possible candidates for life to exist (or at least existed) on their surfaces or below them!