Let’s discuss the unsolved space mysteries that have been baffling science!
For many years, everything beyond the Earth was just unsolved space mysteries to humanity. The truth is that our universe can be mind-boggling at the best of times.
And you have to simply accept many of its explanations rather than attempt to comprehend them…unless you want to turn your brain into mush. The invention of tools competent enough for looking into the universe helped find answers to many questions.
But the more technologies scientists created, the more new questions began to arise. Nowadays, there’s still a lot we do not know about space.
And while the more innovative people in the world have managed to get past these barriers and have made sense of a lot of the wild space lingo, there are still several unsolved space mysteries that scientists still don’t have an explanation for.
Bottom line? We’ve learned so much over the centuries, but science still can’t answer these 7 surprisingly fundamental questions!
Why is the 7th planet from the Sun tilted?
One of the biggest unsolved space mysteries is right in our own cosmic backyard. The planet Uranus is significantly tilted on its axis. And yes, all planets have some sort of axial tilting. For example, Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the Sun.
But Uranus takes it to the extreme, at just shy of 98 degrees. Science has yet to explain the reason for this. But we know that it must have resulted from a brutal collision. And this crash must have happened when this planet was just a baby.
We know this because the planet’s Moons also orbit around this tilted plane, indicating that the crash happened before the satellites coalesced into existence.
What’s with all that dark matter?
All the matter around us consists of neutrons, protons, and electrons, also known as baryonic matter. But this rule doesn’t work for outer space because only 5 percent of it consists of baryonic matter.
On the other hand, what makes up the rest is still one of the greatest unsolved space mysteries known to man. As far as we know, 25% is dark matter, but its composition has yet to be established. At the same time, it can’t exactly be said that this is emptiness.
Dark matter doesn’t emit or absorb light but displays a gravitational effect on the motion of stars and clusters of galaxies. In other words, dark matter is one of the biggest unexplained mysteries of space.
What’s Hoag’s Object?
Generally, there are 2 types of galaxies in our universe. There are the spiral galaxies like the one we’re currently living in, which consist of numerous distinct “arms” orbiting around a supermassive black hole in the middle.
And then there are elliptical galaxies, which are basically just a hot mess of stars in a ball. At first glance, Hoag’s Object looks like a galaxy. But rather than conforming to the norms, it’s assumed the shape of a doughnut.
Comparable in size to the Milky Way, this monstrosity was uncovered in 1950, and which category it falls into has been defined and redefined repeatedly over the last 70 years.
Many experts still debate whether or not it’s even a galaxy, which is why its name has been relegated to ‘object.’ On top of this mystery, scientists are also puzzled about how it would have come into existence.
It’s the only instance of any object that looks like this anywhere in the discernible universe. So it’s still unknown how or why this space donut exists, making it one of the biggest unsolved space mysteries.
Is the idea of doppelgangers absurd?
If the universe is forced to repeat itself, to be part of a multiverse, could there be another or multiple versions of you? According to space.com, if you look far enough, you’ll come face to face with another version of yourself.
And, in fact, there COULD be infinite versions of you. Some of these doppelgangers could be doing exactly what you’re doing at this moment. At the same time, others could have worn a different shirt this morning.
But still, there’s the possibility that others could have made a completely different career and life choice. This is one of those mysteries we probably won’t ever get an answer for. But it’s fascinating nonetheless.
Who knows? Maybe a different version of you isn’t hopelessly addicted to cheese! The experts say that this theory would demand further dimensions, and if so, this remains one of the biggest unsolved space mysteries.
What are Fermi Bubbles?
In 2010, a fantastic phenomenon was discovered in the Milky Way’s structure with the Fermi telescope’s support, and it’s filled with unsolved space mysteries.
These are 2 voluminous and large structures, that look like bubbles, emerging from the center of our galaxy and extending below and above the plane of the Milky Way for 25,000 light years in every direction.
The bubbles are made up of gamma rays and X-rays. Two factors make these Fermi bubbles so mesmerizing:
- How did they come to be? Because of the jets from a black hole at the galaxy’s center that was active 6 million years ago, are they created by strong stellar winds generated by outbursts of new star formation?
- Also, the metals in the bubble clouds don’t exactly match the materials at the galaxy’s center, which means they’re coming into the clouds from somewhere else. But where?
These have added to the list of unsolved space mysteries of the Universe.
What’s the deal with Tabby’s Star?
If you happen to go outside tonight, you might be lucky enough to see some of the billions of stars in our galaxy sparkling bright in the night sky. Unless, of course, you live somewhere like Seattle, in which case, check out those lovely clouds!
All stars have an apparent “shimmering” to them. But one star, in particular, fluctuates its light so much you’d be forgiven for thinking someone had left the lights on at their space party, making it one of the most bizarre unsolved space mysteries!
Sitting in the constellation of Cygnus, Tabby’s Star gives off an almost strobe light effect that has puzzled scientists since it was first noticed back in 2015. Quite a few theories about what’s causing this broken light bulb effect have come and gone since then.
Is a star being concealed by orbiting planets? It’s not. Could there be any changes in the Star’s internal temperature? Wrong again. How about an interstellar giant doing shadow puppets? Well, now you’re being ridiculous! Tabby’s Star is still being explored today.
And experts hope to find the actual reason for this anomaly. And yes, the idea that it could result from interference from alien lifeforms hasn’t been taken off the table…yet!
If you’re just as fascinated by unsolved space mysteries as we are, you’ll love this 6 part series on Amazon: The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries
How fast is the universe expanding?
Over the past decade, the Hubble Space Telescope has been constantly calculating the speed at which the universe is growing and recently came up with an idea of what is accepted as the most precise measurement to date.
The only problem is that the rate stands in direct conflict with supposedly accurate and independent measurements of the early universe’s expansion.
That’s concerning for astrophysicists because it means we know even less about our universe and how it works than we previously thought.
Head researcher Adam Riess, a Nobel Laureate and Professor at Johns Hopkins University, believes that the community is wrestling with understanding the meaning of this dissimilarity.
So, for now, this is simply another one of the many unsolved space mysteries we’re keeping on our list!
We hope you found our list of unsolved space mysteries as fascinating as we did. And if you want to read more posts like this, we also highly recommend checking out: 20 Fascinating Big Bang Facts and the Origins of the Universe
