Here are 10 truly bizarre things in outer space.
Space exploration has taught us many things. Among them is that the universe is filled with really strange stuff.
Here are 10 truly bizarre things in outer space.
Number 10. Methane rain. Much like Earth, Saturn’s moon Titan is subject to an occasional downpour. The difference is that the rain there is made of methane, a gas incapable of supporting life as we know it.
Number 9. Debris umbrellas. Jupiter’s moon Io is loaded with volcanoes, and when they erupt huge pillars of lava and debris clouds are spewed out into space. The umbrellas of debris reach pretty great distances, as Io is low on gravity.
Number 8. Strongest electrical current. The black hole at the center of the 3C303 Galaxy is so powerful it’s believed to be responsible for creating a truly massive electrical current. The power is said to be the equivalent of a trillion bolts of lightning.
Number 7. Transformer pulsar. Pulsars are the remains of massive stars when they collapse. Scientists discovered the Transformer pulsar that emits X-rays, and other time’s it’s all about radio. They’ll have plenty of time to watch as it’s a process that occurs over about a billion years.
Number 6. Jupiter’s enduring red spot. The mark is actually a storm that was first recorded in 1831, but was quite possibly noticed as early as the mid 1600s. Based on calculations, it should have disappeared a long, long time ago, but as of yet hasn’t.
Number 5. Water reservoir. It packs 140 trillion times the water found in all of the Earth’s oceans. It’s also unreachable. In addition to it being 30 billion trillion miles away, it’s in a quasar – one of the most violent space objects known.
Number 4. Rogue planets. Not all planets are linked to a star. There are said to be billions of the free agents roaming around. It’s believed they were kicked to the curb by their suns during the turbulent developmental years.
Number 3. Heavy metal asteroid. It’s name is Psyche and it’s made of 90 percent iron and nickel. Scientists largely agree that it’s the stripped core of a planet, but don’t see eye to eye on whether it never fully formed or did and has since lost its rocky exterior.
Number 2. Barchan dunes on Mars. They look like the StarTrek Starfleet badges, but actually have more in common with birds. The V-formations of both the avian creatures and the sand dunes are related to the same force – wind upwash.
Number 1. Six-tailed asteroid. When astronomers first saw it they didn’t know quite what to make of it. After ruling out alien lawn sprinkler they determined it was likely an asteroid spinning out of control and breaking apart.
Which phenomenon do you think is the weirdest?
