Potential Threats to Humans - 1

November 24^th, 2019

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

We all are humans and our specific species are Homo sapiens. Homo means ‘wise’ and sapiens means ‘man’. So, we are basically wise men. Humans have spent about 200,000 years on planet Earth and are the most intelligent animals on this planet. Though we have survived all these years, there are threats to us that can consequently, wipe us all like we never existed. In this blog, I will talk about the potential threats that can wipe out the human race.

The first threat that can wipe out humanity is a threat that can happen any second. Literally, any second. This threat is a gamma-ray burst that can destroy our ozone layer which protects us from the hazardous rays of the Sun. Gamma rays are basically penetrating electromagnetic radiations which are extremely dangerous. I will further explain the types of rays in another blog. Gamma rays can be produced by the most energetic objects in the universe such as the collision of stars, the explosion of stars, pulsars, neutron stars, and black holes.

 

Image Source: http://astro-interest.com/2014/12/what-is-supernova-explosion/

These rays can also be produced on the Earth by lightning and nuclear explosions, which I'll come to, later on.

The second threat that can wipe out humans literally any second is the over-expansion or collapse of the universe. As we know that the universe is expanding at ever-increasing rates. The universe theoretically can stop expanding or over-expand. Let's assume that the universe stops expanding, this would cause the universe to collapse and theoretically, the big crunch can happen which is the opposite of the big bang. I have explained the expansion of the universe in one of my previous blogs.

The third threat that has the potential to wipe out humanity is the expansion of the sun that is happening very slowly. In 7.6 billion years, the Sun would’ve become as big as it can and would be a supergiant. It would’ve become so big that it would’ve eaten up the planets Mercury, Venus and possibly Earth too.

The fourth threat that can wipe out humanity is asteroids. Asteroids are small rocky bodies orbiting the Sun. Most of the asteroids exist in the asteroid belt that is present between the planets Mars and Jupiter.

Image Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/28710516353449261/

Although they are far away from us and Jupiter attracts them to it, before reaching the Earth, some asteroids manage to reach Earth and trust me, these things are extremely dangerous. Theoretically, one of these asteroids wiped out the dinosaurs and we can even meet their fate. Small asteroids are burnt down in the atmosphere while the medium ones can come a little closer to the surface and may hit the surface. Some asteroids are huge and can easily hit the surface. Although these huge asteroids hit Earth in intervals of 120,000 years, they have the potential to easily wipe out the human race. I have explained about asteroids in one of my previous blogs.

These were some of the threads that are capable of wiping out the human race. There are many more threats to us but I will talk about them in the next blog, which I will publish very soon.

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Strangest Celestial Bodies in the Universe - 2

November 17^th, 2019

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

This is my second blog in the series of strangest planets in the universe. In this blog, I will once again identify and explain certain planets in the universe that are different than many/strange. Though there are many strange planets in the universe, I am going to highlight the major and most surprising ones.

The first celestial body I am going to highlight is a planet called Gliese 436-b.

Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gliese-436-b.jpg

This is an ice planet, which has a diameter similar to Neptune. It has a diameter of 54,333.92 km. The strange thing about this planet is that it is so close to its parent star that it is constantly burning the whole time. You all might be thinking how this can even happen, how can ice burn? Well, uncle gravity is the one to blame. The gravity on this planet is so strong that the ice on this planet is prevented from evaporating.

The next strange object I'll talk about is another planet known as Gliese 581-c. This planet has a diameter of 22767.77 km.

Image Source: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/264/the-earth-like-planet-gliese-581c-artists-impression/

The scientist thinks that this planet may be able to sustain life but that’s not it. This planet orbits a red dwarf star. This planet is tidally locked; therefore, one side of the planet always faces light from its star while the other always remains in dark. Theoretically, this planet can sustain life however, if life exists there, it can only survive in the middle of the planet, which forever sees a sunset as I mentioned that it is tidally locked. If there were or is any plant life there, it would have to use infrared light for photosynthesis giving the plants a dark black color instead of green. For the search of life on this planet, scientists broadcasted a message to the planet in 2008. The message will reach the planet in 2029.

Another strange object in the universe I am going to talk about is a planet named GJ 1214-b which is also called the water world.

Image Source: https://www.facebook.com/TARS.Interstellar/photos/a.710767015673662/1766356186781401/?type=3

This planet is fully covered in water. The strange thing about this planet is that it has water that is miles deep and surprisingly the water reaches up to its core and this is what makes it so special.

The next planet I am going to talk about is present in one of the strangest planetary system in the known universe. This planet is known as HD 188753 and is located 151 light-years away from us.

Image Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/36169603227171436/?lp=true

 This planetary system has 3 stars. Thus, anyone standing on this planet would have 3 shadows, would see solar eclipses almost every day and would see a sunset no matter which places on the planet he would be standing on.

This blog may have seemed very interesting for many, as it is more appeals to your curiosity. That’s all for now, but I’ll be back soon with many more interesting blogs.

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Strangest Celestial Bodies in the Universe - 1

November 10^th, 2019

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

There are many strange objects in the universe. Be it planets or galaxies or even objects that we don’t understand about. In this blog, I will uncover some of the strangest objects in the universe that most people don’t know about. Before starting, I’ll explain some terms to you for basic understanding. Astronomically speaking, only the planets in the Solar System are classified as planets; but the planets that are beyond/outside of the Solar system are called ‘Exo-planets’.

Moreover, any object in the universe, be it a star, planet, moon, or asteroid can be called a celestial body. Thus, any natural body in space is called a celestial body.

The first celestial body I will talk about is the Exo-planet 'J1407-b', which is a hot gas giant, located 400 light-years away from us. It has a diameter of 129341.77 km. The strange aspect of this planet is its huge rings.

Image Source: https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/gigantic-ring-system-around-j1407b/

This planet has rings, those are approximately 200 times bigger than Saturn’s rings. Scientists still cannot understand how this planet got rings that big. Saturn is surely jealous of this planet's ring system. However, they won't stay for long and will disappear in a few hundred thousand years. 

Furthermore, another Exo-planet named as HD 106906-b that exists in the Crux  constellation that is approximately 300 light-years from Earth, is known as the loneliest planet in a planetary system in the universe because of the fact that that it is 650 AU (Astronomical units) away from its parent star named as HIP 59960. This is a huge number because 1 AU is equal to the distance from Sun to Earth. Scientists still can't understand how this planet formed being such distant from its parent star and how does it orbit its parent star from such a distance.

The next celestial body I am going to uncover is also an Exo-planet. The name of this planet is TrES-2b.

Image source: National Geographic

It is a scorched gas giant and has a diameter of 178301.05 km. The strange thing about this planet is that it reflects less than 1% of the light that hits its atmosphere making it the darkest planet in the universe. Believe it or not, if you were to see this planet in front of you in real life, you would see a huge scorching ball of gas darker than coal. In the words of Dr. David Kipping (one of a scientist who discovered this planet) “Some have proposed that this darkness may be caused by the huge abundance of gaseous sodium and titanium oxide. But more likely there is something exotic there that we have not thought of it before.”

Moreover, another strange planet I'll explain is an Exo-planet that is located 40 light-years away from us. Some even call it a girl’s best friend because it is a huge diamond (Just Joking). The name of this planet is 55 Cancri-E.

Image Source: https://www.wired.com/2012/10/diamond-exoplanet/

It orbits its star at a distance of 22.27 million km, which is very close. Scientists say that when this planet formed, it comprised mostly of Carbon, but due to the intense pressure and heat from its parent star, the carbon got compressed into a diamond. If you were to possess all the diamond this planet has, you would be able to earn 26 nonillion dollars (That is 30 zeros). However, sadly the market for diamonds will crash and it won't be worth anything. 

Furthermore, the next strange planet is Wasp-12b. It is a scorched gas giant. It has a diameter of 248220.22 km.

Image Source: Wikipedia 

It is very close to its parent star, which is why its star is literally eating it alive. The star is slowly sucking down the mass of the planet and has also distorted it into the shape of an unnatural egg. For a comparison with Mercury, this planet orbits its star at almost 250, 000 (Rounded up for example purposes) whilst Mercury orbits the sun at 57 million km. Therefore, now you may have got an idea of how close this planet is and how hot it may be. 

The last planet I am going to talk about is Wasp-17b, which is the largest planet in the known universe. It is a strangely large planet and is very similar to Jupiter, but the difference is that it is 1.9 times larger than Jupiter making it unusually large.

Image Source: Wikipedia 

It doesn't end here though, the orbit of this planet also makes it stranger. It has a retrograde orbit, which means that it orbits its parent star in the opposite direction. Thus, the secret behind this planet remains a rare stellar mystery. The parent star of this planet may also wobble a bit due to its ginormous size and mass.

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[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.