The Universe is a mysterious place, filled with mesmerizing beauty, but it’s also home to some of the most terrifying phenomena imaginable. Beyond the twinkling stars and serene galaxies lie cosmic horrors. From black holes that devour everything in their path to rogue planets that drift in eternal darkness, these are not scenes from science fiction but real, proven entities that exist in the vastness of space. Here are five of the most terrifying things lurking in space.
Dark Matter
One scary fact about space is that scientists only know what just a tiny fraction of the Universe is made of. According to The European Space Agency, the Universe consists of roughly 5% ordinary matter, 25% dark matter, and 70% dark energy. It’s concerning to think that scientists don’t know what most of that is.
Ordinary matter consists of the molecules and atoms that make up humans, animals, our food, plants, stars, and, well, everything. However, dark matter and dark energy are the issues. We can’t see dark matter, but we know it exists because of its gravitational effects. It exists in space in massive quantities, but scientists don’t actually know what it is. But dark energy is even more mysterious. It seems to be an unknown form of energy that’s accelerating the Universe’s expansion. But why and how? No one knows.
Asteroids
Most people are familiar with asteroids. They are massive lumps of rock that move around space at extremely high speeds. According to scientists, asteroids have predictable orbits once they have been spotted. But the problem is that there are potentially millions of them that scientists don’t know about.
Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid measuring 1km across struck the Earth and killed all the dinosaurs. This could potentially happen again, which could wipe out the human race.
Meteors
Meteors are smaller versions of asteroids. Although they are unlikely to wipe out the human race, they are still terrifying. According to scientists, they are harder to spot than asteroids and have less predictable orbits, meaning that they could hit the Earth at any moment.
The Great Red Spot
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, but the Great Red Spot is its most distinctive feature you probably wouldn’t want to be caught up in.
The Great Red Spot is a massive, raging storm that’s bigger than the Earth and has been ongoing for over 350 years. With winds of up to 432 km/h (268 mph), you certainly do not want to end up there.
Black holes
Black holes are one of the most terrifying things in space. A black hole is a region of space so dense that nothing can escape its gravitational pull, not even light.
If anything were to cross its ‘event horizon,’ it would disappear forever. Astronomers think that most galaxies have a supermassive black hole at their center, and often, these black holes wander around space at 45 km/s (100,440 mph).
References:
Sky At Night Magazine – What is dark energy, and how are astronomers trying to find it?
NASA – Dark Matter & Dark Energy
Resources:
Space.com – What is dark matter?
Sky At Night Magazine – A beginner’s guide to asteroids
Sky At Night Magazine – Jupiter’s Great Red Spot facts and images
NASA – Meteors and Meteorites