Unusual objects found in the universe
Highly electric Hyperion
Saturn's moon Hyperion (with its pumice-like, irregular shape and numerous craters) ranks among the solar system's weirdest moons. NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which explored Saturn from 2004 to 2017, also discovered that Hyperion emits a "particle beam" of static electricity into space, adding to its oddity.
Double quasar image
Massive objects can curve light, distorting the image of objects behind them. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers observed a quasar (a luminous galaxy) from the early universe and found the universe is expanding faster today than it was then. Physicists now must determine whether their theories are flawed or if something unusual is occurring.
Image credit: NASA Hubble Space Telescope, Tommaso Treu/UCLA
Hoag’s Object
In 1950, astronomer Arthur Hoag discovered a galaxy that features a central yellow core, separated by 70,000 light-years of near-emptiness from an outer ring of stars, gas, and dust. The galaxy, known as Hoag’s Object, has a core and outer ring that are each similar in size to parts of the Milky Way, making it one of the universe’s most peculiar galactic structures.
Oumuamua
‘Oumuamua was an elongated, cigar-shaped object that passed through our solar system in 2017, the first known interstellar object detected. Its odd shape, high speed, and the fact that it didn't behave like a typical comet or asteroid have led to speculation about its origins. Some scientists have even suggested it might be an alien probe.
Wormholes
Wormholes are theoretical passages through spacetime that could connect distant parts of the universe, or even different universes. Although they've never been observed, they arise from solutions to Albert Einstein's equations of general relativity, and traveling through one could cause faster-than-light travel and the potential for time travel.
Mysterious radio signals
Since 2007, researchers have detected fast radio bursts (FRBs), intense radio signals lasting just milliseconds and originating billions of light-years away. Recently, a repeating FRB was captured flashing six times, but the mystery behind these signals still endures.
Nuclear pasta
The strongest substance in the universe forms from a dead star's remnants, where extreme gravitational pressure compresses protons and neutrons into tangled, linguini-like material. Simulations suggest this substance would break only under 10 billion times the force required to shatter steel.
The most bizarre star
Astronomer Tabetha Boyajian and her team were puzzled by KIC 846285, or Tabby's star, which experienced irregular and significant dips in brightness. While some speculated about an alien megastructure surrounding it, most now believe the dimming is caused by an unusual ring of dust surrounding the star.
The living fossil galaxy
A galaxy known as DGSAT I was discovered in 2016, and is as large as the Milky Way but nearly invisible due to its sparsely spread stars. Unlike typical galaxies found in clusters, DGSAT I sits alone. Its characteristics suggest it formed around a billion years after the Big Bang, making it a living fossil.
Rogue planet with auroras
Rogue planets, ejected from their parent stars by gravitational forces, drift through the galaxy without an orbit. A planet-sized object (named SIMP J01365663+0933473 and located 200 light-years away) stands out with a magnetic field over 200 times stronger than Jupiter's. This powerful field creates flashing auroras visible with radio telescopes.
Fermi bubbles
In November 2010, astronomers discovered two enormous bubbles of gamma rays emanating from the Milky Way’s center. These bubbles, expanding at 2.2 million mph (3.5 million km/h), form an hourglass shape. This strange structure adds to the growing list of mysterious cosmic phenomena.
Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
The Boötes Void
The Boötes Void is a massive, nearly empty region of space about 700 million light-years across, with very few galaxies inside it. Its size and emptiness are strange because such voids are rare in the universe, which is mostly filled with galaxies and matter.
The cold spot
The cold spot is an unusually cold region in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) being recorded from the universe in the afterglow of the Big Bang. It can be seen in the center of the image here, and its temperature is significantly lower than the surrounding area. But scientists aren't sure why. It remains one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology.
Hypervelocity stars
When stars move through space at speeds so fast that they can escape their galaxies entirely, they are known as hypervelocity stars. Most stars in galaxies orbit at relatively stable speeds, but these stars are believed to have been ejected after interacting with supermassive black holes.
Galactic cannibalism
Galactic cannibalism is a phenomenon where a larger galaxy consumes a smaller one by gravitationally pulling it apart and absorbing its stars, gas, and dust. Galaxies (which seem like stable, self-contained systems) can actually merge and devour each other in cosmic collisions that lead to larger, more massive galaxies.
The Phoenix Cluster
The Phoenix Cluster is a massive galaxy cluster with an unusually high rate of star formation and black hole activity. In most galaxy clusters, star formation has slowed down significantly, but the Phoenix Cluster shows stars forming at a rapid pace, and the supermassive black hole at its center is growing much faster than expected.
