Top 10 Scariest Space Mysteries That Will Freak You Out
Top 10 Scariest Space Mysteries That Will Freak You Out
Top 10 Space Mysteries That Scientists Can't Explain
Space is amazing and incomprehensible. It is also utterly terrifying. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Scariest Space Mysteries That Will Freak You Out. For this list, we’ll be looking at some of the most unsettling unanswered mysteries regarding space. These can concern the mechanics of space, objects within it, weird signals, and its generally unknowable aspects.
#10: Black Holes
Do Black Holes Die? | Unveiled
It's hard to say what’s more terrifying about black holes – the idea that many aspects of their existence remain unanswered, or the fact that they even exist in the first place! A black hole is created when a mass with incredible density literally distorts spacetime itself, ensuring that nothing – not even light – can avoid being taken in by its gravitational pull. Now isn’t that just horrifying? But there are lots of things we don’t know about black holes that are just as unsettling. How many are there in the universe? How big is the biggest one? What happens when an object passes through the event horizon and into the singularity? We just don’t know.
#9: Radio Signals
4 Weirdest Radio Signals Detected From Space | Unveiled
Throughout 2018 and 2019, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment detected a pattern of radio signals that occurred every sixteen days. This was just one of eight radio signals that were detected by the researchers. These sources were traced to different areas of space, including a massive spiral galaxy about 500 million light years away. But don’t get too excited – it’s probably not aliens. Probably. If anything, the signals likely stem from something called a magnetar, which is a neutron star with an incredibly powerful magnetic field. But that’s just a hypothesis. The truth is, we have no idea what’s behind them, although the WatchMojo Space Science Division is committed to finding an answer.
#8: The “Wow!” Signal
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Perhaps the most famous space-derived radio signal is the “wow!” signal. This was captured by Ohio State University on August 15, 1977 while they were searching for extraterrestrial life. The signal earned its name from astronomer Jerry R. Ehrman, who circled the data on the computer printout and wrote an enthusiastic “wow!” next to it. And despite repeated efforts to relocate the signal – including efforts by Ehrman himself – no one has been able to find it. And while numerous scientific explanations for the signal have been put forth, a general consensus has never been reached. As it stands, the “wow!” signal remains the most convincing evidence of alien life.
#7: Quantum Entanglement
What is Quantum Entanglement? | Unveiled
Alright, bear with us for a second, because things are about to get really weird and really confusing. In short, quantum entanglement suggests that one particle can be moved or interacted with by a mirror particle in a totally different area of the universe. Basically, these two particles are seemingly partnered, despite being incomprehensibly far apart from one another, which in turn suggests that their form of communication travels faster than the speed of light. Einstein called this process “spooky action at a distance” and it seemingly breaks the fundamental laws of physics and quantum mechanics. Man, this space stuff is really baffling, no?
#6: The CMB Cold Spot: The Great Void
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There is an unusually empty and cold region of space in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere known as the CMB cold spot. Astronomers measure the temperature of space using something called cosmic microwave background radiation, and this statistically unlikely cold spot transcends the theoretical models of the universe. This could be a one-billion-light-years-long stretch of space with nothing in it. Experts call it The Great Void. Now, space is big and empty. But it's not that empty. Others have controversially theorized that The Great Void is an imprint of a parallel universe caused by quantum entanglement.
#5: The Big Crunch
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Have you ever thought about the end of the universe? Sure, it’s still trillions and trillions of years away, but the universe will die. Many experts are proponents of the Big Freeze, which is when the universe expands so much that new stars cannot form and the temperatures reach absolute zero. But what if the universe acts like an elastic band? Proponents of the Big Crunch theorize that space will eventually stretch itself to its absolute limit before rebounding and collapsing in upon itself like turning off an old TV screen. Some even theorize that this reversal could result in a new Big Bang, suggesting that the universe is simply on an infinite loop of expansion and regression. We'll stick with the sandwich, thanks.
#4: The Great Attractor
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Are you ready to get really creeped out? The Milky Way is a part of the Laniakea Supercluster, and at the heart of this supercluster is an anomaly called The Great Attractor. Its ominous and mysterious name says it all – this is a gravitational force so incredibly powerful that it’s currently attracting entire clusters of galaxies – including our own. So just what the heck is it? Well... we don’t know. The Attractor is located in the Zone of Avoidance, an area of space that is obscured by the dense light and dust of the Milky Way. In 2016, a team of researchers theorized that the Great Attractor could be the nearby Vela Supercluster of galaxies, located about 870 million light years away.
#3: The Fermi Paradox
4 Possible Solutions to the Fermi Paradox | Unveiled
Arthur C. Clarke famously stated, “Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” And that is what the Fermi paradox looks to explore. Named after physicist Enrico Fermi, the Fermi paradox examines the contradiction between the lack of evidence surrounding alien civilizations and the high probability that they exist. In other words, there is a very high chance that alien life and extraterrestrial civilizations exist, yet we haven’t received a single shred of undeniable evidence of their existence. So which is it? Are we actually alone in the universe? Or are we not?
#2: Dark Energy
How NASA's New Telescope Will Solve Dark Energy | Unveiled
The universe seems to be accelerating. And, well, something has to be responsible for the expansion. But what? As of yet, no one really knows. Most experts point to something called “dark energy,” but no one knows where dark energy comes from, or just how it works. According to those who theorize such things, dark energy makes up about 70% of the known universe. Just think – the thing that makes up 70% of the observable universe has experts shrugging their shoulders in bemusement. Oh, and this dark energy may prove so powerful that it will literally stretch and tear apart the universe over time. This end times theory is called The Big Rip. And it’s horrifying. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Antimatter Why Didn’t Matter & Antimatter Destroy the Universe at the Big Bang? ASASSN-15lh What Made This Supernova 570 Billion Times Brighter Than the Sun?! Gamma Ray Bursts How Are These Cosmic Explosions Created & Could They Wipe Us Out? Tabby’s Star Is Some Massive Object Making It Look Like This Star Is Flickering?
#1: Dark Matter
What If We Could See Dark Matter? | Unveiled
If you thought dark energy was scary, brace yourself. Astronomers and cosmologists have long speculated that gravity alone cannot account for the creation, sustainability, and movement of galaxies. As such, an unseen form of matter must be responsible for holding them together. This form of matter is called dark matter. In fact, estimates theorize that it accounts for roughly 85% of the universe’s matter. Unfortunately, this proposed substance does not interact with electromagnetic radiation – ie: light – thus meaning it is completely unobservable. It's responsible for the creation of planets, stars, and galaxies, it’s currently holding them all together, and it makes up the lion's share of the universe – yet we have no idea what it is or how it works.
