Space has always attracted and attracted man. His secrets fascinated, excited the imagination, forced him to penetrate deeper into the unknown.
However, the more a person studied space, the more secrets he threw to him. At the moment, scientists have counted seven main mysteries of space, which can be solved within the next ten years.
Riddle one: is there life on Mars?
The red planet has long been a stumbling block for scientists. It seems that it is not a black hole or the Andromeda nebula, it is literally nearby, but there are so many questions … The main one - is there life on Mars? - has not yet been solved. It is clear that there is no intelligent life form there, at least for now. But it is possible that it used to be. In the earlier stages of its existence, Mars, like the Earth, could be surrounded by an atmosphere, and if there is an atmosphere, then there may be life.
But the Red Planet is half the size of Earth, and this is where size matters. The core of Mars is much smaller than the Earth's core, which means that it cooled down much faster. And as soon as the core cools down, the planet's magnetic field weakens, and then asteroids begin to attack it from all sides. A collision with them turned the once prosperous Mars into a lifeless desert.
But is she so lifeless? Soil samples taken by the reentry spacecraft indicate the presence of colossal amounts of hydrogen trapped in ice. And if there is ice, life is also possible, the whole question is in what form it is …
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Riddle two: deviation from the norm
In 1972, the Americans launched the Pioneer 10 spacecraft designed to study Jupiter. In 1983, the ship left the solar system. On board was a 15 x 23 cm plate made of gold-plated aluminum with an engraved pictogram. It depicts a man, a woman, the Pioneer apparatus itself, as well as a diagram of the location of the Earth in space.
As conceived by the creators, with its help, aliens will be able to obtain all the necessary information about the Earth and its inhabitants. After "Pioneer-10", the twin apparatus "Pioneer-11" went into space. He also reached the vicinity of Jupiter, and then went beyond the solar system. And then something happened that no one expected. The devices behaved more than strange: they deviated from the course and reduced their speed. As a result, the "Pioneers" went aside for … 400 000 km!
In December 1990, a similar nuisance occurred with the Galileo spacecraft, and in 1998 with the satellite that flew to the Shoemaker-Levy comet. The system is there. But the designers calculated the trajectory and flight speed of the ships with maximum accuracy. What caused the deviation from the course? No one knows. Conservative scientists blamed the solar wind, gravitational field, dark matter and much more, alternative scientists saw in everything the intrigues of extraterrestrial intelligence. But there is still no exact answer to the question of what happened to the satellites.
Riddle three: cosmic invisibility
Dark matter is a phenomenon that the best minds have been wrestling with for decades. It cannot be seen through a telescope, it does not reflect light rays, but, according to preliminary calculations, it makes up 70% of the matter in the Universe. The Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky first spoke about him in the 1930s. Even then, he suggested that the real mass of galaxies is much greater than the mass of what can be observed with telescopes.
Later, scientists were convinced of his correctness. Dark matter was still not visible, but it affected visible objects in such a way that its existence was not in doubt. In the next ten years, experts hope to "grab her by the tail", but so far this dark story has not been clarified; which only plays into the hands of representatives of alternative science, who see the intrigues of aliens in everything. Say, it is they who are so "encrypted" and surreptitiously rule in space.
Riddle four: the tenth planet
At the very edge of the solar system, beyond Pluto, is the Oort cloud - millions of ice blocks and comets. Under the influence of solar attraction, they sometimes change their orbits and "drop" into our planetary system. So Pluto - either a planet, or a huge asteroid - "turns" to us to the light. But it's not about him. Behind the Oort Cloud lies the Kuiper Belt, home to billions of asteroids.
But behind the Kuiper belt is a completely empty space. Only a planet like Earth or Mars is capable of “clearing” its way to such an extent that nothing dangles under its “feet”. So experts and thought about the presence of the tenth planet, but so far no one has been able to see the mysterious stranger.
Riddle five: hot Jupiters
These are giant planets orbiting their stars in close proximity to them. "What a marvel!" - the reader will say. And it will be wrong. Surprisingly, these planets move in their orbits in the opposite direction to the direction of rotation of the stars themselves. This is contrary to all the laws of physics, and yet the fact is obvious. Such a somersault suggests that the laws we are used to do not apply everywhere. Or maybe just our solar system is an exception to the rule?
Riddle six: islands of life
The biggest question of recent times: how many planets like Earth are in space? Astrophysicists no longer doubt that they exist. As of October 2013, 992 exoplanets have been confirmed in 756 planetary systems. Their variety is amazing.
Yes, most are like our Jupiter - these are gas giants. As for the rest … Some make a revolution around their sun in just a couple of earthly days, two or three suns shine above others, as in the famous Avatar.
There are systems in which not “earths” are inhabited, but “moons” … The main thing is to find habitable planets closer to the Earth and equip expeditions there. Not an easy task, but worth it. Maybe then the cherished dream of many earthlings will come true - there will be our brothers in mind.
Riddle seven: entry and exit
Before scientists had time to more or less deal with black holes, suddenly white holes appeared. At least in the constellation of the Indian, which is 1.6 million light-years from us, some powerful X-ray flash flashed, which cannot be attributed to any known species. Seven years have passed since that moment, and astrophysicists are still struggling to solve the phenomenon. The only explanation is the explosion of the white hole.
What kind of fruit is this? A white hole is the antipode of a black one, it does not let anything inside, and maybe even pushes matter out. According to one version, a white hole is the reverse side of a black hole. And together they are the entrance to the tunnel connecting parts of the Universe that are distant from each other. If you get into such a tunnel, you can find yourself in a different time and in a different space. In this case, the version about the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, different from ours, seems quite realistic. We are all looking out for aliens through telescopes and telescopes, and they suddenly - bang! - and emerge under our noses!
Andrey PALKO