Test on knowledge of the world on the topic "Space" (4th grade). Size of the universe Objects of the universe in ascending order
Thanks to the constant development of technology, astronomers are finding more and more diverse objects in the Universe. The title of “largest object in the Universe” passes from one structure to another almost every year. Here are examples of the largest objects that have been discovered so far.
1. Supervoid
In 2004, astronomers discovered the largest void (called a void) in the known universe. It is located 3 billion light years from Earth in the southern part of the constellation Eridanus. Despite the name "void," the 1.8 billion light-year-sized void is not actually a completely empty region in space. Its difference from other parts of the Universe is that the density of matter in it is 30 percent less (in other words, there are fewer stars and clusters in the void).
Also, the Eridanus Supervoid is notable for the fact that in this region of the Universe the temperature of microwave radiation is 70 microkelvins lower than in the surrounding space (where it is approximately 2.7 kelvins).
2. Space blot
In 2006, a team of astronomers from the University of Toulouse found a mysterious green blob in space, which became the largest structure in the Universe at that time. This blob, called the Lyman Alpha Blob, is a gigantic mass of gas, dust and galaxies that stretches 200 million light years across (that's 7 times the size of our galaxy, the Milky Way). Light from it takes as much as 11.5 billion years to reach Earth. Considering that the age of the Universe is most often estimated at 13.7 billion years, the giant green blob is considered one of the oldest structures in the Universe.
3. Shapley Supercluster
Scientists have long known that our galaxy is moving towards the constellation Centaurus at a speed of 2.2 million kilometers per hour, but the reason for the movement remained a mystery. About 30 years ago, a theory emerged that the Milky Way is attracted to a “Great Attractor” - an object whose gravity is strong enough to attract our galaxy at great distances. As a result, it was discovered that our Milky Way and the entire Local Group of galaxies are attracted to the so-called Shapley Supercluster, consisting of more than 8,000 galaxies with a total mass of 10,000 times the Milky Way.
4. Great Wall CfA2
Like many of the structures on this list, the Great Wall of CfA2 was recognized as the largest known object in the Universe when discovered. The object is located approximately 200 million light-years from Earth, and its approximate dimensions are 500 million light-years long, 300 million light-years wide, and 15 million light-years thick. It is impossible to establish the exact dimensions, since clouds of dust and gas from the Milky Way obscure part of the Great Wall from us.
5. Laniakea
Galaxies are usually grouped into clusters. Those regions where clusters are more densely packed and connected to each other by gravitational forces are called superclusters. The Milky Way, along with the Local Group of galaxies, was once thought to be part of the Virgo Supercluster (110 million light-years across), but new research has shown that our region is just an arm of a much larger supercluster called Laniakea, which is 520 million light-years across. years.
6. Sloan's Great Wall
The Great Wall of Sloan was first discovered in 2003. The giant group of galaxies, stretching over 1.4 billion light years, held the title of the largest structure in the Universe until 2013. It is located approximately 1.2 billion light years from Earth.
7. Huge-LQG
Quasars are the nuclei of active galaxies, in the center of which (as modern scientists assume) there is a supermassive black hole, which throws out part of the captured matter in the form of a bright jet of matter, which leads to super-powerful radiation. Currently, the third largest structure in the Universe is the Huge-LQG - a cluster of 73 quasars (and therefore galaxies), located 8.73 billion light years from Earth. Huge-LQG measures 4 billion light years.
8. A giant ring of gamma-ray bursts
Hungarian astronomers have discovered one of the largest structures in the Universe at a distance of 7 billion light years from Earth - a giant ring formed by bursts of gamma radiation. Gamma-ray bursts are the brightest objects in the Universe, releasing as much energy in just a few seconds as the Sun produces in 10 billion years. The diameter of the discovered ring is 5 billion light years.
9. Great Wall of Hercules - Northern Crown
Currently, the largest structure in the Universe is a superstructure of galaxies called the Great Wall of Hercules-Corona Borealis. Its size is 10 billion, or 10 percent of the diameter of the observable Universe. The structure was discovered through observations of gamma-ray bursts in the area of the constellations Hercules and Corona Borealis, a region 10 billion light years away from Earth.
10. Cosmic Web
Scientists believe that the distribution of matter in the Universe is not random. It has been proposed that galaxies are organized into a huge universal structure in the form of filamentary filaments or clusters of "partitions" between huge voids. Geometrically, the structure of the Universe most closely resembles a bubbly mass or a honeycomb. Inside the honeycomb, which is approximately 100 million light years across, there are virtually no stars or any matter. This structure was called the "Cosmic Web".
It may seem incredible, but space discoveries directly affect people's daily lives. Confirmation of this.
Ancient pyramids, the world's tallest skyscraper in Dubai almost half a kilometer high, the grandiose Everest - just looking at these huge objects will take your breath away. And at the same time, compared to some objects in the universe, they differ in microscopic size.
Largest asteroid
Today, Ceres is considered the largest asteroid in the universe: its mass is almost a third of the entire mass of the asteroid belt, and its diameter is over 1000 kilometers. The asteroid is so large that it is sometimes called a "dwarf planet."
The largest planet
In the photo: on the left - Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, on the right - TRES4
In the constellation Hercules there is a planet TRES4, the size of which is 70% larger than the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. But the mass of TRES4 is inferior to the mass of Jupiter. This is due to the fact that the planet is very close to the Sun and is formed by gases constantly heated by the Sun - as a result, the density of this celestial body resembles a kind of marshmallow.
Biggest star
In 2013, astronomers discovered KY Cygni, the largest star in the universe to date; The radius of this red supergiant is 1650 times the radius of the Sun.
In terms of area, black holes are not that big. However, given their mass, these objects are the largest in the universe. And the largest black hole in space is a quasar, whose mass is 17 billion times (!) greater than the mass of the Sun. This is a huge black hole at the very center of the galaxy NGC 1277, an object that is larger than the entire solar system - its mass is 14% of the total mass of the entire galaxy.
The so-called “super galaxies” are several galaxies merged together and located in galactic “clusters”, clusters of galaxies. The largest of these “super galaxies” is IC1101, which is 60 times larger than the galaxy where our Solar System is located. The extent of IC1101 is 6 million light years. For comparison, the length of the Milky Way is only 100 thousand light years.
The Shapley Supercluster is a collection of galaxies spanning over 400 million light years. The Milky Way is approximately 4,000 times smaller than this super galaxy. The Shapley Supercluster is so large that it would take Earth's fastest spacecraft trillions of years to traverse it.
The enormous group of quasars was discovered in January 2013 and is currently considered the largest structure in the entire universe. Huge-LQG is a collection of 73 quasars so large that it would take over 4 billion years to travel from one end to the other at the speed of light. The mass of this grandiose space object is approximately 3 million times greater than the mass of the Milky Way. The Huge-LQG group of quasars is so enormous that its existence refutes Einstein's basic cosmological principle. According to this cosmological position, the universe always looks the same, regardless of where the observer is located.
Not long ago, astronomers discovered something absolutely amazing - a cosmic network formed by clusters of galaxies surrounded by dark matter, and resembling a giant three-dimensional spider web. How big is this interstellar network? If the Milky Way galaxy were an ordinary seed, then this cosmic network would be the size of a huge stadium.
Full name__________________________________________ _____ Date _______________________
1. List the planets of the solar system:
1) _________________ 5) _________________
2) _________________ 6) _________________
3) _________________ 7) _________________
4) _________________ 8) _________________
2. Arrange the objects of the Universe sequentially in increasing order of magnitude
3. An imaginary straight line passing through the poles around which the Earth rotates
a) axis b) orbit c) equator
4. Huge parts of land surrounded on all sides by water are called
a) mainland b) island c) peninsula
5. On what continent is the territory of the region in which you live located?
a) Austria b) Eurasia c) Africa d) South America
6. Arrange the planets of the solar system in order of distance from the Sun
7. The rotation of the Earth around its axis leads to
8. The duration of one revolution of the Earth around its axis is called _____________________,
they consist of ___________ hours
9. Which planet is a giant planet?
a) Mars b) Venus c) Pluto d) Saturn
10. The revolution of the Earth around the Sun leads to
_____________________________________________
11. The time required for a complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun is called __________________.
it consists of _____________ days.
12. Read the sentences. Underline those that explain why the seasons change on the globe, make a schematic drawing.
1) The earth rotates around its axis
2) The Earth moves around the Sun
3) Tilt of the earth's axis
13. The path along which the Earth moves around the Sun is called ___________________________
14. Our galaxy is called
_____________________________________________
15. Natural satellite of the Earth
a) Moon b) Sun c) Mars d) Stars
16. Small model of the Earth - _________________
17. Who became the first cosmonaut?
______________________________________________
18. First Kazakhstani cosmonaut
_____________________________________________
19. What is the name of the cosmodrome, which is located on the territory of Kazakhstan?
_________________________________
20. People visited:
a) on Mars b) on the Moon
c) on Venus d) on all planets of the solar system
What do we know about the universe, what is space like? The Universe is a boundless world difficult to comprehend by the human mind, which seems unreal and intangible. In fact, we are surrounded by matter, limitless in space and time, capable of taking various forms. To try to understand the true scale of outer space, how the Universe works, the structure of the universe and the processes of evolution, we will need to cross the threshold of our own worldview, look at the world around us from a different angle, from the inside.
Education of the Universe: first steps
The space that we observe through telescopes is only part of the stellar Universe, the so-called Megagalaxy. The parameters of Hubble's cosmological horizon are colossal - 15-20 billion light years. These data are approximate, since in the process of evolution the Universe is constantly expanding. The expansion of the Universe occurs through the spread of chemical elements and cosmic microwave background radiation. The structure of the Universe is constantly changing. Clusters of galaxies, objects and bodies of the Universe appear in space - these are billions of stars that form the elements of near space - star systems with planets and satellites.
Where is the beginning? How did the Universe come into being? Presumably the age of the Universe is 20 billion years. Perhaps the source of cosmic matter was hot and dense proto-matter, the accumulation of which exploded at a certain moment. The smallest particles formed as a result of the explosion scattered in all directions, and continue to move away from the epicenter in our time. The Big Bang theory, which now dominates scientific circles, most accurately describes the formation of the Universe. The substance that emerged as a result of the cosmic cataclysm was a heterogeneous mass consisting of tiny unstable particles that, colliding and scattering, began to interact with each other.
The Big Bang is a theory of the origin of the Universe that explains its formation. According to this theory, there initially existed a certain amount of matter, which, as a result of certain processes, exploded with colossal force, scattering the mass of the mother into the surrounding space.
After some time, by cosmic standards - an instant, by earthly chronology - millions of years, the stage of materialization of space began. What is the Universe made of? The scattered matter began to concentrate into clumps, large and small, in the place of which the first elements of the Universe, huge gas masses—nurseries of future stars—subsequently began to emerge. In most cases, the process of formation of material objects in the Universe is explained by the laws of physics and thermodynamics, but there are a number of points that cannot yet be explained. For example, why is expanding matter more concentrated in one part of space, while in another part of the universe matter is very rarefied? Answers to these questions can only be obtained when the mechanism of formation of space objects, large and small, becomes clear.
Now the process of formation of the Universe is explained by the action of the laws of the Universe. Gravitational instability and energy in different areas triggered the formation of protostars, which in turn, under the influence of centrifugal forces and gravity, formed galaxies. In other words, while matter continued and continues to expand, compression processes began under the influence of gravitational forces. Particles of gas clouds began to concentrate around an imaginary center, eventually forming a new compaction. The building materials in this gigantic construction project are molecular hydrogen and helium.
The chemical elements of the Universe are the primary building material from which the objects of the Universe were subsequently formed
Then the law of thermodynamics begins to operate, and the processes of decay and ionization are activated. Hydrogen and helium molecules disintegrate into atoms, from which the core of a protostar is formed under the influence of gravitational forces. These processes are the laws of the Universe and have taken the form of a chain reaction, occurring in all distant corners of the Universe, filling the universe with billions, hundreds of billions of stars.
Evolution of the Universe: highlights
Today, in scientific circles there is a hypothesis about the cyclical nature of the states from which the history of the Universe is woven. Arising as a result of the explosion of promaterial, gas clusters became nurseries for stars, which in turn formed numerous galaxies. However, having reached a certain phase, matter in the Universe begins to tend to its original, concentrated state, i.e. the explosion and subsequent expansion of matter in space is followed by compression and a return to a superdense state, to the starting point. Subsequently, everything repeats itself, the birth is followed by the finale, and so on for many billions of years, ad infinitum.
The beginning and end of the universe in accordance with the cyclical evolution of the Universe
However, omitting the topic of the formation of the Universe, which remains an open question, we should move on to the structure of the universe. Back in the 30s of the 20th century, it became clear that outer space is divided into regions - galaxies, which are huge formations, each with its own stellar population. However, galaxies are not static objects. The speed of galaxies moving away from the imaginary center of the Universe is constantly changing, as evidenced by the convergence of some and the removal of others from each other.
All of the above processes, from the point of view of the duration of earthly life, last very slowly. From the point of view of science and these hypotheses, all evolutionary processes occur rapidly. Conventionally, the evolution of the Universe can be divided into four stages - eras:
- hadron era;
- lepton era;
- photon era;
- star era.
Cosmic time scale and evolution of the Universe, according to which the appearance of cosmic objects can be explained
At the first stage, all matter was concentrated in one large nuclear droplet, consisting of particles and antiparticles, combined into groups - hadrons (protons and neutrons). The ratio of particles to antiparticles is approximately 1:1.1. Next comes the process of annihilation of particles and antiparticles. The remaining protons and neutrons are the building blocks from which the Universe is formed. The duration of the hadron era is negligible, only 0.0001 seconds - the period of explosive reaction.
Then, after 100 seconds, the process of synthesis of elements begins. At a temperature of a billion degrees, the process of nuclear fusion produces molecules of hydrogen and helium. All this time, the substance continues to expand in space.
From this moment, a long, from 300 thousand to 700 thousand years, stage of recombination of nuclei and electrons begins, forming hydrogen and helium atoms. In this case, a decrease in the temperature of the substance is observed, and the radiation intensity decreases. The universe becomes transparent. Hydrogen and helium formed in colossal quantities under the influence of gravitational forces turns the primary Universe into a giant construction site. After millions of years, the stellar era begins - which is the process of formation of protostars and the first protogalaxies.
This division of evolution into stages fits into the model of the hot Universe, which explains many processes. The true causes of the Big Bang and the mechanism of matter expansion remain unexplained.
Structure and structure of the Universe
The stellar era of the evolution of the Universe begins with the formation of hydrogen gas. Under the influence of gravity, hydrogen accumulates into huge clusters and clumps. The mass and density of such clusters are colossal, hundreds of thousands of times greater than the mass of the formed galaxy itself. The uneven distribution of hydrogen, observed at the initial stage of the formation of the universe, explains the differences in the sizes of the resulting galaxies. Megagalaxies formed where the maximum accumulation of hydrogen gas should exist. Where the concentration of hydrogen was insignificant, smaller galaxies appeared, similar to our stellar home - the Milky Way.
The version according to which the Universe is a beginning-end point around which galaxies revolve at different stages of development
From this moment on, the Universe receives its first formations with clear boundaries and physical parameters. These are no longer nebulae, accumulations of stellar gas and cosmic dust (products of an explosion), protoclusters of stellar matter. These are star countries, the area of which is huge from the point of view of the human mind. The universe is becoming full of interesting cosmic phenomena.
From the point of view of scientific justification and the modern model of the Universe, galaxies were first formed as a result of the action of gravitational forces. There was a transformation of matter into a colossal universal whirlpool. Centripetal processes ensured the subsequent fragmentation of gas clouds into clusters, which became the birthplace of the first stars. Protogalaxies with fast rotation periods turned into spiral galaxies over time. Where the rotation was slow and the process of compression of matter was mainly observed, irregular galaxies were formed, most often elliptical. Against this background, more grandiose processes took place in the Universe - the formation of superclusters of galaxies, whose edges are in close contact with each other.
Superclusters are numerous groups of galaxies and clusters of galaxies within the large-scale structure of the Universe. Within 1 billion St. There are about 100 superclusters for years
From that moment on, it became clear that the Universe is a huge map, where the continents are clusters of galaxies, and the countries are megagalaxies and galaxies formed billions of years ago. Each of the formations consists of a cluster of stars, nebulae, and accumulations of interstellar gas and dust. However, this entire population constitutes only 1% of the total volume of universal formations. The bulk of the mass and volume of galaxies is occupied by dark matter, the nature of which is not possible to determine.
Diversity of the Universe: classes of galaxies
Thanks to the efforts of the American astrophysicist Edwin Hubble, we now have the boundaries of the Universe and a clear classification of the galaxies that inhabit it. The classification is based on the structural features of these giant formations. Why do galaxies have different shapes? The answer to this and many other questions is given by the Hubble classification, according to which the Universe consists of galaxies of the following classes:
- spiral;
- elliptical;
- irregular galaxies.
The first include the most common formations that fill the universe. The characteristic features of spiral galaxies are the presence of a clearly defined spiral that rotates around a bright core or tends to a galactic bar. Spiral galaxies with a core are designated S, while objects with a central bar are designated SB. Our Milky Way galaxy also belongs to this class, in the center of which the core is divided by a luminous bridge.
A typical spiral galaxy. In the center, a core with a bridge from the ends of which spiral arms emanate is clearly visible.
Similar formations are scattered throughout the Universe. The closest spiral galaxy, Andromeda, is a giant that is rapidly approaching the Milky Way. The largest representative of this class known to us is the giant galaxy NGC 6872. The diameter of the galactic disk of this monster is approximately 522 thousand light years. This object is located at a distance of 212 million light years from our galaxy.
The next common class of galactic formations are elliptical galaxies. Their designation in accordance with the Hubble classification is the letter E (elliptical). These formations are ellipsoidal in shape. Despite the fact that there are quite a lot of similar objects in the Universe, elliptical galaxies are not particularly expressive. They consist mainly of smooth ellipses that are filled with star clusters. Unlike galactic spirals, ellipses do not contain accumulations of interstellar gas and cosmic dust, which are the main optical effects of visualizing such objects.
A typical representative of this class known today is the elliptical ring nebula in the constellation Lyra. This object is located at a distance of 2100 light years from Earth.
View of the elliptical galaxy Centaurus A through the CFHT telescope
The last class of galactic objects that populate the Universe are irregular or irregular galaxies. The designation according to the Hubble classification is the Latin symbol I. The main feature is an irregular shape. In other words, such objects do not have clear symmetrical shapes and characteristic patterns. In its shape, such a galaxy resembles a picture of universal chaos, where star clusters alternate with clouds of gas and cosmic dust. On the scale of the Universe, irregular galaxies are a common phenomenon.
In turn, irregular galaxies are divided into two subtypes:
- Irregular galaxies of subtype I have a complex irregular structure, a high dense surface, and are distinguished by brightness. Often this chaotic shape of irregular galaxies is a consequence of collapsed spirals. A typical example of such a galaxy is the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud;
- Irregular, irregular galaxies of subtype II have a low surface, a chaotic shape and are not very bright. Due to the decrease in brightness, such formations are difficult to detect in the vastness of the Universe.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is the closest irregular galaxy to us. Both formations, in turn, are satellites of the Milky Way and may soon (in 1-2 billion years) be absorbed by a larger object.
Irregular galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud - a satellite of our Milky Way galaxy
Despite the fact that Edwin Hubble quite accurately classified galaxies into classes, this classification is not ideal. We could achieve more results if we included Einstein’s theory of relativity in the process of understanding the Universe. The Universe is represented by a wealth of various forms and structures, each of which has its own characteristic properties and features. Recently, astronomers were able to discover new galactic formations that are described as intermediate objects between spiral and elliptical galaxies.
The Milky Way is the most famous part of the Universe
Two spiral arms, symmetrically located around the center, make up the main body of the galaxy. The spirals, in turn, consist of arms that smoothly flow into each other. At the junction of the Sagittarius and Cygnus arms, our Sun is located, located at a distance of 2.62·10¹⁷km from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The spirals and arms of spiral galaxies are clusters of stars whose density increases as they approach the galactic center. The rest of the mass and volume of galactic spirals is dark matter, and only a small part is accounted for by interstellar gas and cosmic dust.
The position of the Sun in the arms of the Milky Way, the place of our galaxy in the Universe
The thickness of the spirals is approximately 2 thousand light years. This entire layer cake is in constant motion, rotating at a tremendous speed of 200-300 km/s. The closer to the center of the galaxy, the higher the rotation speed. It will take the Sun and our Solar System 250 million years to complete a revolution around the center of the Milky Way.
Our galaxy consists of a trillion stars, large and small, super-heavy and medium-sized. The densest cluster of stars in the Milky Way is the Sagittarius Arm. It is in this region that the maximum brightness of our galaxy is observed. The opposite part of the galactic circle, on the contrary, is less bright and difficult to distinguish by visual observation.
The central part of the Milky Way is represented by a core, the dimensions of which are estimated to be 1000-2000 parsecs. In this brightest region of the galaxy, the maximum number of stars is concentrated, which have different classes, their own paths of development and evolution. These are mainly old super-heavy stars in the final stages of the Main Sequence. Confirmation of the presence of an aging center of the Milky Way galaxy is the presence in this region of a large number of neutron stars and black holes. Indeed, the center of the spiral disk of any spiral galaxy is a supermassive black hole, which, like a giant vacuum cleaner, sucks in celestial objects and real matter.
A supermassive black hole located in the central part of the Milky Way is the place of death of all galactic objects
As for star clusters, scientists today have managed to classify two types of clusters: spherical and open. In addition to star clusters, the spirals and arms of the Milky Way, like any other spiral galaxy, consist of scattered matter and dark energy. As a consequence of the Big Bang, matter is in a highly rarefied state, which is represented by tenuous interstellar gas and dust particles. The visible part of the matter consists of nebulae, which in turn are divided into two types: planetary and diffuse nebulae. The visible part of the spectrum of nebulae is due to the refraction of light from stars, which emit light inside the spiral in all directions.
Our solar system exists in this cosmic soup. No, we are not the only ones in this huge world. Like the Sun, many stars have their own planetary systems. The whole question is how to detect distant planets, if distances even within our galaxy exceed the duration of existence of any intelligent civilization. Time in the Universe is measured by other criteria. Planets with their satellites are the smallest objects in the Universe. The number of such objects is incalculable. Each of those stars that are in the visible range can have their own star systems. We can see only the existing planets closest to us. What is happening in the neighborhood, what worlds exist in other arms of the Milky Way and what planets exist in other galaxies remains a mystery.
Kepler-16 b is an exoplanet near the double star Kepler-16 in the constellation Cygnus
Conclusion
Having only a superficial understanding of how the Universe appeared and how it is evolving, man has taken only a small step towards comprehending and comprehending the scale of the universe. The enormous size and scope that scientists have to deal with today suggests that human civilization is just a moment in this bundle of matter, space and time.
Model of the Universe in accordance with the concept of the presence of matter in space, taking into account time
The study of the Universe goes from Copernicus to the present day. At first, scientists started from the heliocentric model. In fact, it turned out that space has no real center and all rotation, movement and movement occurs according to the laws of the Universe. Despite the fact that there is a scientific explanation for the processes taking place, universal objects are divided into classes, types and types, not a single body in space is similar to another. The sizes of celestial bodies are approximate, as is their mass. The location of galaxies, stars and planets is arbitrary. The thing is that there is no coordinate system in the Universe. Observing space, we make a projection onto the entire visible horizon, considering our Earth as the zero reference point. In fact, we are only a microscopic particle, lost in the endless expanses of the Universe.
The Universe is a substance in which all objects exist in close connection with space and time
Similar to the connection to size, time in the Universe should be considered as the main component. The origin and age of space objects allows us to create a picture of the birth of the world and highlight the stages of the evolution of the universe. The system we are dealing with is closely related to time frames. All processes occurring in space have cycles - beginning, formation, transformation and ending, accompanied by the death of a material object and the transition of matter to another state.
The distant ancestors of modern inhabitants of planet Earth believed that it was the largest object in the universe, and the small-sized Sun and Moon revolved around it in the sky day after day. The smallest formations in space seemed to them to be stars, which were compared to tiny luminous points attached to the firmament. Centuries have passed, and man's views on the structure of the Universe have changed dramatically. So what will modern scientists answer now to the question, what is the largest space object?
Age and structure of the Universe
According to the latest scientific data, our Universe has existed for about 14 billion years, this is the period in which its age is calculated. Having begun its existence at a point of cosmic singularity, where the density of matter was incredibly high, it, constantly expanding, reached its present state. Today, it is believed that the Universe is built from only 4.9% of the ordinary and familiar matter from which all astronomical objects visible and perceived by instruments are composed.
Previously, when exploring space and the movement of celestial bodies, ancient astronomers had the opportunity to rely only on their own observations, using only simple measuring instruments. Modern scientists, in order to understand the structure and size of various formations in the Universe, have artificial satellites, observatories, lasers and radio telescopes, the most sophisticated sensors. At first glance, it seems that with the help of scientific achievements it is not at all difficult to answer the question of what is the largest space object. However, this is not at all as easy as it seems.
Where is there a lot of water?
By what parameters should we judge: by size, weight or quantity? For example, the largest cloud of water in space was discovered from us at a distance that light travels in 12 billion years. The total amount of this substance in the form of vapor in this region of the Universe exceeds all the reserves of the Earth's oceans by 140 trillion times. There is 4 thousand times more water vapor there than is contained in our entire galaxy, called the Milky Way. Scientists believe that this is the oldest cluster, formed long before the times when our Earth as a planet appeared to the world from the solar nebula. This object, rightfully classified as one of the giants of the Universe, appeared almost immediately after its birth, just after a billion years or maybe a little more.
Where is the greatest mass concentrated?
Water is believed to be the oldest and most abundant element not only on planet Earth, but also in the depths of space. So, what is the largest space object? Where is the most water and other matter? But it is not so. The mentioned cloud of vapor exists only because it is concentrated around a black hole endowed with enormous mass and is held in place by the force of its gravity. The gravitational field near such bodies turns out to be so strong that no objects are able to leave their boundaries, even if they move at the speed of light. Such “holes” in the Universe are called black precisely because light quanta are not able to overcome a hypothetical line called the event horizon. Therefore, they cannot be seen, but a huge mass of these formations constantly makes itself felt. The sizes of black holes, purely theoretically, may not be very large due to their fantastic density. At the same time, an incredible mass is concentrated in a small point in space, hence, according to the laws of physics, gravity arises.
The closest black holes to us
Our native Milky Way is classified by scientists as a spiral galaxy. Even the ancient Romans called it the “milk road”, since from our planet it has the corresponding appearance of a white nebula, spread out in the sky in the blackness of the night. And the Greeks came up with a whole legend about the appearance of this cluster of stars, where it represents milk splashing from the breasts of the goddess Hera.
Like many other galaxies, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way is a supermassive formation. They call it “Sagittarius A-star”. This is a real monster that literally devours everything around it with its own gravitational field, accumulating within its limits huge masses of matter, the amount of which is constantly increasing. However, the nearby region, precisely because of the existence of the indicated retractor funnel in it, turns out to be a very favorable place for the appearance of new star formations.
The local group, along with ours, also includes the Andromeda galaxy, which is closest to the Milky Way. It also belongs to the spiral, but several times larger and includes about a trillion stars. For the first time in written sources of ancient astronomers it was mentioned in the works of the Persian scientist As-Sufi, who lived more than a thousand years ago. This huge formation appeared to the mentioned astronomer as a small cloud. It is for its appearance from Earth that the galaxy is also often called the Andromeda Nebula.
Even much later, scientists could not imagine the scale and size of this cluster of stars. For a long time they endowed this cosmic formation with a relatively small size. The distance to the Andromeda Galaxy was also significantly downplayed, although in fact the long distance to it is, according to modern science, the distance that even light travels over a period of more than two thousand years.
Supergalaxy and galaxy clusters
The largest object in space could be considered a hypothetical supergalaxy. Theories have been put forward about its existence, but the physical cosmology of our time considers the formation of such an astronomical cluster implausible due to the impossibility of gravitational and other forces to hold it as a single whole. However, a supercluster of galaxies exists, and today such objects are considered quite real.
A bright point in the sky, but not a star
Continuing the search for something remarkable in space, let's now ask the question differently: what is the largest star in the sky? And again we will not immediately find a suitable answer. There are many noticeable objects that can be identified with the naked eye on a beautiful clear night. One of them is Venus. This point in the sky is perhaps brighter than all the others. In terms of glow intensity, it is several times greater than the planets close to us, Mars and Jupiter. It is second in brightness only to the Moon.
However, Venus is not a star at all. But it was very difficult for the ancients to notice such a difference. With the naked eye, it is difficult to distinguish between stars burning by themselves and planets glowing with reflected rays. But even in ancient times, for example, Greek astronomers understood the difference between these objects. They called the planets “wandering stars” because they moved over time along loop-like trajectories, unlike most night celestial beauties.
It is not surprising that Venus stands out among other objects, because it is the second planet from the Sun, and the closest to Earth. Now scientists have found that the sky of Venus itself is completely covered with thick clouds and has an aggressive atmosphere. All this perfectly reflects the sun's rays, which explains the brightness of this object.
Star giant
The largest star discovered by astronomers to date is 2100 times larger than the Sun. It emits a crimson glow and is located in This object is located at a distance of four thousand light years from us. Experts call it VY Canis Majoris.
But a star is large only in size. Research shows that its density is actually negligible, and its mass is only 17 times the weight of our star. But the properties of this object cause fierce debate in scientific circles. The star is believed to be expanding but losing brightness over time. Many experts also express the opinion that the enormous size of the object, in fact, in some way only seems so. The optical illusion occurs due to the nebula enveloping the true shape of the star.
Mysterious space objects
What is a quasar in space? Such astronomical objects turned out to be a big puzzle for scientists of the last century. These are very bright sources of light and radio emission with relatively small angular dimensions. But despite this, with their glow they outshine entire galaxies. But what is the reason? It is assumed that these objects contain supermassive black holes surrounded by enormous gas clouds. Giant funnels absorb matter from space, due to which they constantly increase their mass. Such retraction leads to a powerful glow and, as a consequence, to enormous brightness resulting from the braking and subsequent heating of the gas cloud. It is believed that the mass of such objects exceeds the solar mass billions of times.
There are many hypotheses about these amazing objects. Some believe that these are the nuclei of young galaxies. But what seems most intriguing is the assumption that quasars no longer exist in the Universe. The fact is that the glow that terrestrial astronomers can observe today reached our planet for too long a period. It is believed that the closest quasar to us is located at a distance that light had to travel over a thousand million years. This means that on Earth it is possible to see only “ghosts” of those objects that existed in deep space in incredibly distant times. And then our Universe was much younger.
Dark matter
But this is not all of the secrets that the vast space holds. Even more mysterious is its “dark” side. As already mentioned, there is very little ordinary matter called baryonic matter in the Universe. Most of its mass consists, as is currently suggested, of dark energy. And 26.8% is occupied by dark matter. Such particles are not subject to physical laws, so they are too difficult to detect.
This hypothesis has not yet been fully confirmed by rigorous scientific data, but arose in an attempt to explain extremely strange astronomical phenomena associated with stellar gravity and the evolution of the Universe. All this remains to be seen only in the future.
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