The following deep space wonders defy common logic and inspire scientists as they peer into the fathomless universe.<\/p>\n
A strange pattern of light found orbiting star KIC 8462852<\/a> Discovered in 2009 by the Kepler Space Telescope, KIC 8462852 is brighter, hotter, and more massive than the Sun.<\/strong><\/p>\n Scientists have been locating planets in deep space by tracking the light emitted by nearly 150 thousand stars, since the fluctuations in light help to indicate orbiting masses<\/strong>. Usually, dips in light emissions measured are slight, dimming by one percent every few days, weeks, and months.<\/p>\n KIC 8462852 displays not only more dips in brightness than expected but dips that are extremely irregular and sudden. At one point, scientists found that the dips had dropped dramatically<\/a> to 15 percent, and at another interval, 22 percent.<\/p>\n This could be explained by space junk<\/strong>, a collection of rocks and debris, but that only happens with young stars. Evidence suggests that KIC 8462852 is a mature star. Whatever is blocking the star is enormous, at up to half the width of the star!<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the weirdest deep space objects is the most symmetrical nebula ever discovered,<\/a> which was found by astronomers Dr. Peter Tuthill<\/strong> of the University of Sydney and Dr. James Lloyd of Cornell University.<\/p>\n It’s located just five thousand light-years away in the Milky Way. The Red Square was discovered orbiting the constellation Serpens,<\/strong> <\/em>the serpent associated with the origin of medicine in myth.<\/p>\n The square isn’t a literal square but rather a bipolar nebula, an hourglass-shaped cloud of gas and dust.<\/strong> When examined closely, two cones of light can be seen, resembling two rings of light found around supernova models investigating the 20-year-old mystery of exploding star Supernova 1987A<\/strong>. There is a possibility the Red Square will become a supernova. Many are aware that the rate at which objects move, spin, and orbit in space are vastly different than how objects move on Earth. It’s not surprising that objects collide into one another all the time, due to their gravitational pulls.<\/p>\n What is surprising is that the probability of two galaxies colliding is unlikely<\/a>. Why is that? Well, space. Space is enormous, with 4.2 light-years as the average distance between any two stars. However, these objects still affect one another. Presently, the Milky Way is \u201ccolliding\u201d with the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy<\/strong>, though this is known by scientists as \u201cinteracting.\u201d<\/p>\n The clouds of gas within each galaxy become compressed. As the galaxies collapse under their own gravitational weight, they transform into new stars in a galaxy where star formation likely ended long ago. Though galaxy \u201ccollisions\u201d occur every few millions of years, you can use a web-based simulation tool to model galaxy interactions.<\/p>\n Binary stars are particularly strange stars, but some of them have an evil twin and exist within a relationship known as<\/a> a cataclysmic variance (CV).<\/strong><\/em> The binary star pairs in a CV are a white dwarf and its companion.<\/p>\n A research team led by scientists from\u00a0the University of Amsterdam<\/strong> observed an\u00a0impressive cosmic phenomenon<\/strong>. Using\u00a0the VLT telescope<\/strong>\u00a0located in Chile, researchers have studied dozens of\u00a0O-type stars<\/strong>\u00a0that are located in various stellar clusters in our galaxy.<\/p>\n During one of their observations, the scientists identified a binary system in which an O-type star accepted\u00a0the attack of its neighbor star\u00a0<\/strong>which literally \u201csucked\u201d its matter! The experts have called such stars\u00a0\u201cvampires\u201d<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The process is roughly similar to the orbits of the Earth and moon. Imagine materials of the normal star being taken in by the white dwarf. The white dwarf orbits closely around its companion, tearing away at its essence, but the white dwarf is also the core.<\/p>\n The O-type stars<\/strong>\u00a0are enormous. They are\u00a0at least 15 times larger\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0one million times brighter<\/strong>\u00a0than the Sun and emit blue and white light.<\/p>\n The researchers studied 71 stars of this type and concluded that the vast majority of them exist in\u00a0binary star systems.<\/strong> According to the experts, 20%-30% of these stars eventually\u00a0merges with their neighbor star<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The researchers identified\u00a0a binary system in which two stars<\/strong>, an O-type star and a much smaller one, are spaced at such a distance that\u00a0there can be no merger.<\/p>\n In this case, one of the two stars begins to \u201csuck\u201d the matter of the other one<\/strong>. The impressive thing here is that\u00a0the star which unleashes the attack\u00a0is not the O-type star but\u00a0its small neighbor!<\/p>\n The European Southern Observatory (ESO)\u00a0which owns\u00a0the VLT telescope\u00a0unveiled an artistic presentation of the fascinating phenomenon.<\/p>\n American Museum of Natural History astronomer Mordecai-Mark Mac Low<\/strong> explains this weird relationship<\/a> by saying<\/p>\n \u201cthe particularly odd thing about these objects is that white dwarfs are the cores of red giants, and the companion stars orbit so close that they must have once been deep inside the red giant! <\/em><\/p>\n It appears that if a red giant swallows a binary companion as it grows, the companion can sometimes strip its outer layers off, leaving a prematurely naked white dwarf behind.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sounds very similar to human relationships, doesn’t it? One, the red giant, gets a big head. The little-guy white dwarf then gets his revenge by eating him up from inside.<\/p>\n The Hubble Space telescope points itself into an area of empty space and takes an image. This image is known as the Hubble Deep Space Field<\/strong> <\/em>and contains thousands of faraway galaxies. In 2007, scientists were surprised when they found a huge hole of nothingness.<\/strong> Since it was in the Eridanus constellation, some call it the Eridanus Black Hole.<\/p>\n A billion light-years in diameter, this \u201chole\u201d is a curious find for scientists. The hole isn’t part of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, left over from the Big Bang.<\/strong><\/p>\n Scientists had discovered a cold spot in the area of the Eridanus Black Hole before the Black Hole was discovered, and this spot indicates dark energy<\/a> which is responsible for the expansion of the universe. Is the expanding universe just an illusion?<\/strong> It’s a debate that won’t see an end anytime soon.<\/p>\n This hole is like a spider lurking in a hole of nothingness, having eaten everything surrounding it,\u00a0 including CMB radiation.<\/strong> The supermassive black hole is so big that it likely consumed millions of galaxies surrounding it.<\/p>\n None of this explains an even larger void found, among other vast voids, when by the Six-Degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS). The void encompasses 3.5 billion light-years, and not even the Big Bang Theory can explain it.<\/p>\n2. A Nebula Shaped Like a Red Square<\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n3. Colliding Galaxies Don’t Exactly Collide<\/h3>\n
4. When Binary Stars Have an Evil Twin<\/h3>\n
5. Huge Hole of Nothingness<\/h3>\n
Controversy Incites Discovery as Technology Advances<\/h3>\n