The universe is weird and always gives us mystery when we look deeply. In the observable universe, with a diameter of 93.016 billion light-years, there is no questioning of weird objects’ presence. Recently, NASA has successfully launched the James Webb Space Telescope and is reaching its orbit. We hope it finds more weird objects in the cosmos and clarifies our understanding.
So, without further ado, I present the weirdest objects in the cosmos to you. It increases the curiosity of your passion for astronomy.
Table of Contents
Hoag’s Object:
In the known world, galaxies are either in the shape of elliptical, irregular, or else in spirals. But this galaxy is in the shape of a ring, which makes it weird. The unusual extragalactic object was found by the astronomer Arthur Hoag in 1950. This is located 600 million light-years away from Earth and 100,000 light-years across. Hoag suggested that the ring is just the optical illusion caused by gravitational lensing.
But in 2002, with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists found that the ring is made up of billions of blue stars, dust, gases, and star clusters. Till now, no other galaxies have been found like this. There is no exact answer for this formation of the ring galaxy. This makes it such a weird object in the cosmos, and we look more like that.
Link to the image: Hoag’s Object
Elst-Pizarro:
To look into this, first, let me clear you the difference between the comets and the asteroids. Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, dust, and rocks that orbit the sun. At the same time, the asteroids are made up of rocky objects ( not icy ), leftover from our solar system’s formation.
Now, why is Elst-Pizarro the weird object in the cosmos? It is called so because it exhibits the characteristics of both asteroids and comets. Initially, it was found as an asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was treated as normal until it reached its closest point to the sun, called perihelion, in 1996.
The image captured by Eric W. Elst and Guido Pizarro revealed that Elst-Pizarro had a tail as comets have. Till now, it has two hypotheses where one strongly says Elst-Pizarro would have started its origin as an asteroid and another says comet.
Link to the image: Elst-Pizarro
Magnetic Rogue Planet:
Scientists named it SIMP J01365663+0933473 and called it a brown dwarf (which failed to form as a star ). It is located 20 light-years from Earth and has a 200 times more powerful magnetic field than Jupiter’s.
The strongest magnetic field and spectacular auroras make it a weird object found in the cosmos. Not only this but also that the planet is not orbiting the star; it presents on its own. Is it weird to hear?
Link to the image: Rogue Planet
The Boötes Void:
The void means nothing. Looking here, the Boötes void, also once called “The Great Nothing,” consists of very few galaxies. It is 330 million light-years wide and located 700 million light-years away from Earth. Some believe it is formed by merging smaller voids.
The astronomer Greg Aldering said if we fix our Milky way galaxy in the center of the Bootes void, we wouldn’t know other galaxies were present in the universe until the 1960s.
With rough estimation, there should have been 2000 galaxies in the Bootes void; instead, we found only 60 galaxies so far. This makes it a more weird object in the cosmos to understand.
Link to the image: Boötes Void
Hyperion:
Hyperion is the largest irregular and non-spherical moon of Saturn. It was discovered in 1848 by William Lassell, and later on that year, two individuals discovered it independently. Considering its dimensions: 410 x 260 x 220 kilometers in diameter of three axes, it may be a remnant of a larger moon. More than 40 percent of the surface is made up of water ice with gaps. It also consists of frozen methane or carbon dioxide.
Since Hyperion is in resonance with the Titan, it doesn’t grow more circular over time. Moreover, it also kept this moon tidally locked with Saturn. Now, what makes it a weird object of the cosmos?
Its deeply cratered surface and absence of significant ejecta rays make it weirder. Since the crater walls are bright, it explains the presence of water ice in Hyperion. However, the reason for the numerous and deepest porousness on the moon remains unanswered.
Do you want to look at Hyperion? Cassini captured its image on its close flyby on Sept.26, 2005. You can check with the link below.
Link to the image: Hyperion
Conclusion:
We have seen unique and weird objects in the cosmos. I hope you enjoyed learning it. Not only these five objects but there also are numerous objects that are so weird found in the cosmos. Do explore more on that and describe that in our comment section.
