As humans, curiosity is ingrained in our nature. We share a common longing to understand our existence, whether we explain it based on religion or science is a whole different subject, however, one question that occupies our minds is the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
What if aliens exist?
If our Universe is so vast and wide, why haven’t we found them yet?
What is going on?
When we look at the stars and the moon we ask ourselves how many planets like ours could be out there for us to find other types of life.
Not to mention scientists and astronomers dedicate their days to sifting through data, tirelessly seeking answers to the countless questions the universe presents.
Yet, they readily acknowledge the immense difficulty, if not the near impossibility, of comprehending outer space with our mortal minds.
When even experts are unsure about what’s happening in the vast unknown, it’s only natural for us to have some pressing questions. Here are the most significant space mysteries that still baffle us, even scientists.
01
Did The Black Hole or The Galaxy Come First?
That’s a great question, and one that no one has a solid answer to! Scientists are baffled over black holes and when they came into existence. There’s a bunch of models as to how today’s galaxies form. Recent research used radio-frequency images to delve into early galaxies, hints that black holes might have taken the lead. And in some of them the galaxy comes first and the black holes form from stars falling into the center, and in other models the black holes form first and stars form around them. Although observations have pointed very slightly in favor of the latter, there isn’t enough to call it either way.
According to Chris Carilli, part of the research team at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the black holes formed first and then somehow they formed a stellar galaxy around them. It’s a celestial mystery in the making.
02
Where’s Our Second Sun
One theory claims that 80 percent of star systems exist as binary systems with two suns. Although our solar system doesn’t fit this pattern anymore, astronomers propose an idea—that we might have once harbored a second sun called Nemesis.
Recent research examining a cluster of young stars in the Milky Way provides some backing to this idea, suggesting that nearly all sun-like stars are born in pairs. However, unless we identify a star with the exact composition as our own, the existence of Nemesis will remain an enduring mystery.
03
Who’s the Arecibo Message Going to Reach?
Back in 1974, the most powerful signal was shot into space, the message, targeting the M13 star cluster, featuring a graphic showcasing our solar system, and a DNA strand, just to name a few, is projected to reach M13 in approximately 25,000 years. But hey, who knows, maybe someone else will catch it along the way.
04
What is the Fermi Bubble?
Back in 2010, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope caught something intriguing—a very strange and puzzling structure in our galaxy. They named it Fermi bubbles, and true to its name, this phenomenon takes the form of two expansive bubbles, stretching both above and below the galaxy. Scientists think they might be leftovers from a massive burst of star formation, but the exact story is still up in the cosmic air.
05
How Big is The Universe?
Backing up a little: our sun, a star, is orbited by eight (formerly nine) planets. These star-planet combos make up solar systems. Bunches of solar systems form galaxies, and our galaxy, which is in the Milky Way, is thought to house around 200 billion solar systems. Now, when we talk about what we can see, the observable universe, it’s estimated at about 150 billion galaxies. Other studies also suggest the universe could be at least 250 times larger than that. Wrap your head around that, and don’t forget we are just talking about galaxies here. Contemplating how these figures apply to solar systems and planets is enough to boggle anyone’s mind.
06
“Where’s Everybody?”
“Where is everybody?” Physicist Enrico Fermi, who asked himself the same thing we do now.
The puzzling absence of contact with extraterrestrial life prompts us to question why, given the vast number of potentially habitable planets. Recent research from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that at least 1 percent of all planets in the universe could support biological life. To put it in perspective, there are 100 such planets for every grain of sand on Earth’s beaches, totaling 100,000 intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way alone. This leads us to the Fermi Paradox, named after physicist Enrico Fermi, which attempts to explain this apparent contradiction.
Despite numerous theories, the astrological community remains divided. Some propose that we are the sole intelligent life forms, while others speculate that there must be a compelling reason for our lack of contact with cosmic neighbors. Other explanations include a scenario where we are observed like animals in a zoo or that we are situated in a relatively unexplored part of the galaxy, akin to how 15th-century explorers were unaware of ancient American tribes before crossing the Atlantic. Right.
07
What are Black Holes?
Black holes are incredibly dense regions in space where gravity is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape their gravitational pull. They are formed when massive stars collapse under their own gravity, creating a point in space with infinite density known as a singularity. The boundary surrounding the singularity is called the event horizon.
Black holes come in different sizes, from stellar-mass black holes formed by collapsing stars to supermassive black holes found at the centers of galaxies. But no one knows how they are formed, what they do, and, more importantly, what happens if matter passes through one.
They remain mysterious and fascinating objects in astrophysics.
08
So, Where Did the Moon Come From?
Pasadena, USA. Photo source /NASA
Shouldn’t we have this sorted by now, given we’ve set foot on its surface? Not exactly, in fact, it’s still a bit hazy, even for the scientists. One front-runner theory proposes that it formed from debris ejected during a massive collision with a ‘protoplanet’ around 4.5 billion years ago. Another theory suggests the Moon may have originated from an asteroid captured by Earth’s gravitational pull. Regardless, the evidence is still up in the air.
09
What Created Mercury?
It’s so difficult to observe Mercury because it’s so close to the Sun that checking it out with regular telescopes can be a bit tricky, leaving scientists with more questions than answers.
Nearly half of Mercury’s volume is a massive metallic core, a stark contrast to Earth’s meager 10 percent. Theories abound – some suggest it might have started as a planet resembling Earth and Venus but lost its crust due to a collision, or perhaps got scorched by the sun. Either way, Mercury keeps scientists scratching their heads, leaving us with plenty of questions and not enough answers.
10
What Was Around Before the Big Bang?
So the universe came into existence 13.8 billion years ago right after the big bang? What existed before that? Or better yet, time surely existed before the big bang so what else existed?
Time surely existed before the big bang” NO (but I don’t have the data available to say that nothing came before the big bang).
“time is infinite” maybe not.
There are a pool of ideas about what could have happened “before” the big bang, but all are basically hypotheses. Every well-tested theory we have breaks down at the Big Bang, so the only honest answer is we don’t know.
While no one can tell exactly what was out there before the Big Bang, the period before the Big Bang remains shrouded in mystery, but several theories offer insights.
Some astrophysicists propose the universe existed in singularity, expanding only after the Big Bang. Alternatively, others suggest our early universe might be a descendant of an even older one. Then, there’s the cosmic inflation theory, asserting the universe is eternal—no “beginning” to explain—it has always existed and will continue to exist.
