CRAZIEST 2020 Space Discoveries

 it's official there is no end in sight  what we know about the universe could  fit onto a grain of sand  on the beach of cosmic knowledge it's  groundbreaking discovery  after groundbreaking discovery so what  are some new space discoveries that are  seared into our brains  so that we never forget welcome to fact  nominal and we're dishing out the  details on some recent celestial  breakthroughs  in 10 new space discoveries you'll never  forget  10. the original recipe after decades of  searching  we finally found it the first ever type  of molecule produced after the big bang  it's now believed that around 100 000  years after the big bang  hydrogen and helium atoms combined to  make helium  hydride an ion positively charged due to  its lack of an outer shell electron  the immense heat of the young universe  and the abundance of small  simple atoms formed the perfect breeding  ground for more completed molecular  structures to form helium hydride should  still be present in the modern universe  but has evaded detection that is until  scientists looked in the remnants of a  sunlight star  present three thousand light years away  in the planetary nebula  ngc 7027 as the universe cooled  the helium hydride ions reacted to  produce paired hydrogen molecules  literally the fuel stars of their  nuclear fusion reaction  nine cooking up a storm the ngc  7027 nebula is the gift that keeps  giving  also throwing up clues as to how organic  molecules  the building blocks of life can form in  space  giving us a better insight into how life  sprung  into being here on earth a specific type  of flat molecule made of carbon atoms  arranged in a honeycomb pattern  called a polysilic aromatic hydrocarbon  or pah make up around 10 of all the  carbon in the universe  they are also found in kitchens all  around the world in the vapors given off  by cooking meat  vegetables and burning wood it's now  understood that pah found  the ngc 7027 nebula are bombarded with  ultraviolet radiation  meaning more complex organic molecules  can be formed  and given enough time organic life  eight when worlds collide bd  plus two zero minus 307 is a binary  system  three thousand light years featuring a  duo of billion-year-old stars  the debris field surrounding the system  relatively warm  unusual for his age this points to the  fact that two of the exoplanets collided  and obliterated each other some time ago  in the last decade there has been a 10  increase in this warm dust  indicated that the collision happened  way more recently than first thought  new planets formed from this fresh dust  cloud as particles being sticked  together  as they spin around the gravity of their  star  studying how distant collisions change a  whole system gives us valuable insight  into how our own solar system was formed  it's now believed that the earth was hit  by a mercury-sized planet  forever changing our planet the moon is  likely part of the dead molten core of  the planetary missile  7. lack of appetite  it's unclear why some supermassive black  holes alert at the heart of most  galaxies suck in surrounding material at  a furious rate  while others remain relatively dormant  despite being the same size and age  new research points to the existence of  additional magnetic fields around some  black holes  that create a sized structure around the  event horizon called a taurus  the magnetic field ranges much further  afield than the gravitational pull  drawing dust  and light into the gaping mouth the  black hole it serves to attract material  into the range of the black hole's  gravity  the dusty taurus is not present around  the supermassive black hole in the milky  way galaxy  indicating a cancelling out of magnetic  forces  this may explain why there are so many  stars  there is an overabundance of raw  building materials not consumed by our  black hole    6. doppelganger it appears that our  solar system has a twin  with a structure and near mirror image  to our own the southern hemisphere of  the constellation erythemus is home to a  star  10.5 light years away called epsilon  eridani the star is eerily similar to  the early life of our sun in terms of  size  color temperature and behavior it was  home to the fictional babylon 5 space  station  featured on the popular tv series of the  same name  there are two narrow discs of debris  circling the star  made up of dust ice smallly rocky bodies  and metallic fragments  everything a new exoplanet needs to grow  big and strong  one ring has already given birth to a  jupiter-sized planet  and roughly the same orbit as the one  found here  we could be looking at what is  essentially an album full of the baby  pictures of our solar system  5. speed demon the cigar galaxy m82  is arguably the fastest we've seen in  terms of making new stars  on average stars in this galaxy are  formed 10 times faster than in the milky  way  and for the longest time scientists had  no clue as to why  further research has uncovered that when  galactic wind the unseen force pushing  materials through the void of space in  between galaxies  is aligned with the magnetic field it  forms a superhighway  this cosmic freeway can transport an  insane amount of gas  and dust the equivalent of 60 million of  our sun  these are the building blocks needed to  form galaxies and their containing stars  m82 has one of these super highway  sitting at its center  bringing it a huge never-ending volume  of nutrients needed to grow stars  at an astonishing rate 4.  greedy guts it was previously thought  that dramatic process such as the  supernova of a dying star  were largely responsible for regulating  the formation of new galaxies  the energy released fueling the galactic  wind needed to spread materials  throughout the cosmos  the orion nebula is one of the most well  documented nebulas  and is the closest stellar nursery to  earth the center is  composed of a tight-knit group of young  stars massive in terms of size as well  as output of light  and energy the galactic wind within this  center circle of this group  of stars pushing nearby dust and gas  towards the center like a cosmic snow  plow clearing a row  and forming banks on the outside this  forms a bubble around the centre of the  nebula  disrupting the birth of new stars  outside the center  three deep impact it's common knowledge  that asteroid impact led to the rapid  demise of the dinosaurs  up until recently there had been no real  evidence of anywhere on earth  that would have hosted such a declining  event iridium is a rare element  it's not found in earth's rock crust we  know that all of the iridium on earth  comes from outer space  brought here as part of the three tons  of cosmic dust that falls on earth's  surface each day  as well as small meteorites the northern  tip of the yucatan peninsula  is mostly buried under jungle and  seafloor sediment  new studies have shown however that  there is a trowel on the land forming a  hundred mile wide  impact crater with the area super rich  in iridium  with chemical dating confirming the  craters formation 66 million years ago  towards the end of the creationist  period two  stalwart protector solar radiation is a  double-edged sword  on one hand it feeds the plant life  needed to support the food chain  through photosynthesis on the other hand  the ultraviolet radiation can cause  cancer  bleach coral and if increased by just a  few percent  can wipe out life as we know it recently  scientists discovered that the nasty  radiation given off by the sun  has another purpose the solar wind forms  a donut shaped disk  of soupy plasma energy that sits at the  edge of our solar system  called the heliopause this acts as a  buffer preventing the majority of  harmful cosmic radiation  including x and gamma rays from  penetrating our system  early research has shown that the  heliopause is responsible for blocking  70 percent of the high energy photons  that if left unchecked  would have made the formation of life  impossible  1. beam me up scotty there are a few  weird moons in our solar system  jupiter's low which is a ball of molten  lava  neptune's triton which puffs out glises  of ice  but saturn's hyperion takes the cake  it's not entirely solid like a regular  rocky moon  instead made up of honeycombed rock full  of air pockets  much the same as a piece of pumice stone  used to scrape the skin off your feet  it's shaped like a potato with a chaotic  unpredictable ever-changing rotation  keeping it in highly irregular orbit  perhaps the craziest fact  is that recently there is evidence  static electricity is coming from this  moon  it's proposed that the spongy makeup of  this planet coupled with this wobbly  trajectory  interact with saturn's magnetosphere  this creates a strong  negative electrical potential on the  surface which shoots out a beam of  invisible electrical charge from its    center