THE UNIVERSE
1
CYGNUS X-1
Cygnus X-1 is a stellar-mass black hole - a black hole that has formed from the collapse of a massive star.
2
THE OORT CLOUD
The Oort Cloud is a cloud of many icy objects past the Kuiper Belt which encompasses the entire Solar System. This region of the Solar System was named after Jan Oort, the astronomer first proposed its existence.
3
Methuselah is a 13 billion-year-old exoplanet (the Universe is only about 13.8 billion-years-old)- the oldest planet discovered to date! Methuselah was found in a globular cluster of stars.
PSR B1620-26 b (METHUSELAH)
The Universe has been a source of mystery for mankind since the beginning of time. Since ancient times, legends have been written as an explanation to observations of the Universe, but with the development of technology during the Renaissance, humans began looking for more scientific answers to their questions. While this angered some, like the Catholic church, others were drawn to the magnificence of the night sky and were determined to use science and math to find a concrete answer. This is how astronomy was born. Since that time mankind has come so far- we have discovered so much and answered many questions. However, it seems with every question we answer it leads to yet another question. Since the Universe is so vast, we may never be able to know everything about the cosmos. But we still know a lot. Today I will be looking at three interesting areas of our Universe: Cygnus X-1, the Oort Cloud, and the oldest planet ever discovered - Methuselah.
PLACES
OF
INTEREST
Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1 is a stellar mass black hole, located near "large active regions of star formation"[4] in the Milky Way galaxy (the Cygnus constellation), about 6 light years from Earth. Scientists have discovered that Cygnus X-1's event horizon is spinning around 800 times a second. Cygnus X-1 was discovered in 1964 during a sub-orbital spaceflight. Cygnus X-1 is also one of the strongest sources of X-ray emission that can be detected from Earth. A blue supergiant star orbits Cygnus X-1 at a distance of 0.2 astronomical units, and stellar wind from the star provides Cygnus X-1 with its accretion disk (a circumstellar disk that surrounds a celestial body and spirals inward because of gravity) as you can see from the image on the right. Cygnus X-1 is approximately 5 million years old, and formed from a star with 40 solar masses.
An artist's illustration of Cygnus X-1. Sourced from: Dunbar, B. (2011, November 17). Cygnus X-1: A Stellar Mass Black Hole. Retrieved December 19, 2015, from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/cygnusx1.html
The Oort Cloud and the orbital path of comets (on right).
The Oort Cloud is a theoretical cloud of comets and other icy objects, which surrounds the entire Solar System, about 2 light years past Neptune's orbit. Jan Oort hypothesized the existence of this cloud to explain the phenomenon of long-period comets, such as where they came from. Though the existence of the Oort Cloud has never been proven through direct observation, it is widely accepted throughout the entire scientific community as true. The Oort Cloud is comprised of two regions- the outer spherical shell, and the inner Hills Cloud, which is shaped like a disc. From examinations of multiple objects presumed to originate from the Oort Cloud, scientists believe that the objects in the Oort Cloud are made of: water, methane, ethane carbon monoxide, and ammonia.
Oort Cloud
Methuselah
Methuselah was found within a cluster of stars, which were some of the very first stars that formed just after the Big Bang. Methuselah orbits two stars, a neutron star which spins 100 revolutions per second, and a white dwarf. Methuselah has a mass about 2.5 times larger than Jupiter's. It takes Methuselah approximately 100 years to complete an orbit since it is about 23 AU from the two stars which it orbits. Scientists believe that Methuselah may not have originally formed in its current location. They believe it was later captured, by the mass of the neutron star, since it is unlikely the planet could stay when the neutron star ejected all of its mass in the process of becoming a neutron star.
An artist's illustration of Methuselah, the oldest planet ever discovered.