“Space is an inspirational concept that allows you to dream big.”
Sipping on the much needed coffee, he looked out the window, gazing at the stars. Staring at the cosmos, he pondered upon the possibilities. The vast canvas that is the universe had its palette all laid out. And shining bright red was the moon.
Oh! How big the universe is, he wondered. And how little we know!
He looked back at the coffee cup, and a notification popped up on the screen –
‘Biggest Things in the Universe That Will Leave You Stunned’
In his thirst to know more, he tapped on the notification. The mystery that unfolded was just as astounding and unbelievable.
Here is to the endlessness and vastness of the universe. Read along to know more about the biggest things in the universe discovered yet!
Biggest Planets
Over the past few years, researchers have been in an awe of the universe, and the new mysteries it unfolds every day. To date, thousands of exoplanets have been discovered. To put up a precise number, it stands around 5000 exoplanets.
In this list of the biggest things in the universe, ranked are the gas-like giants HAT-P-32b in Andromeda. It was found that the radius of these exoplanets was twice as much of Jupiter. Although, the mass of these exoplanets was slightly lower.
What are exoplanets?
Exoplanets are simply the planets that orbit around other stars like the Sun.
“HAT-P-32b is a hot Jupiter, a type of close-in giant gaseous planet,” said Ming Zhao, a research associate in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University.
The HAT-P-32b is known to orbit only 0.034 AU from its host star, and has nearly one-tenth the radius of the Solar System’s Mercury.
Ming Zhao further added that the planet experiences scorching irradiation and is recorded to have a temperature of nearly 1800ºC. This high temperature results in the enlarged size of the exoplanets.
For Better Calculations:
Mass of Earth – 5.972 × 10^24 kg
Mass of Jupiter – 317.8 x 5.972 x 10^24 kg
Mass of ROXs 42Bb – 9 x 317.8 x 5.972 x 10^24 kg
Another one that make its cut to this list are the ROXs 42Bb, which is yet again a gas giant like Jupiter. These exoplanets however have 9 times the mass of Jupiter!
The host star of ROXs 42Bb is about 460 lightyears from Earth. It is also known to have 2.5 times the width of Jupiter.
Nothing like your regular candy, isn’t it something that just boasts the largeness?
Biggest Stars
Moving on to the stars of the universe, there surely are some that just can’t hide being a star! And you know how stars tend to be, getting on the lists and making themselves seen! Here are a few stars that make it to the list of biggest things in the universe, and try and steal some spotlight!
Looking beyond the lengths of the Sun’s solar system, Hypergiant UY Scuti is a star thought to measure a whopping 1700 times the radius of the Sun. Although, the numbers keep changing as the star grows and shrinks over a cycle of 740 days.
Coming in close and bagging the second position is NML Cygni, a star as big as 1642 times the solar radii. The enormous size of this star is caused due to the 50 Earth masses worth of gas it loses every year, which then creates a cloud around it, hence helping it boast of its enormous size. The size of this star varies over a 940-day cycle.
These stars however are in the later stages of their lives and have at most a few million years to twinkle before they explode and leave behind a majestic nebula.
Honorable Mentions:
VY Canis Majoris – >1500 times Solar Radii
Mu Cephei – 1,200 times Solar Radii
KW Sagittarii – 1090 times Solar Radii
Which brings us to the next mentions among the biggest things in the universe.
Biggest Nebulae
How is a Nebula formed?
Simply put, a nebula is a giant cloud of dusat and gas in the space. Nebulae can be formed in several ways, like –
From the aftermath of a supernova or when a star like the Sun dies.
Nebulae are found throughout our Galaxy. Although, making its way to the biggest things in the universe is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nebula that is about 160,000 lightyears away!
The next one is The Tarantula Nebula, an enormous HII region 600 lightyears across.
Quick Calculator-
160,000 Lightyears = 1,513,716,875,612,928,000 Kilometers
Orion Nebula comes in next in the search for biggest things in the universe. Now you remember the NML Cygni star right? If that star switched places and moved in nearby the Orion Nebula, the nebula would appear as huge as 60 full moons swamped in the moon. Orion would also shine bright enough to create shadows!
The Orion nebula is also said to house the super star cluster R136. This star cluster is where you can find some of the most massive and the brightest stars, adding on to the beauty of this brightly shining nebula.
However, when we look at the largest entrants at the next notch on the cosmic size scale, galaxies, it’s unlikely they’ll have any impressive nebulae at all.
But the cosmos is much bigger than these nebulae and stars and planets. It is all encompassing, and ever accepting. The beauty of the cosmos transcends all and keeps surprising us the most. And the galaxies in it are nothing short of it!
Biggest Galaxies
The only beloved galaxy to the mankind is the Milky Way. But beyond it, more specifically, about 5.8 million lightyears beyond it is one of the largest known elliptical galaxy – IC 1101 in Virgo. This galaxy is known to have about 50 times the diameter of the Milky Way.
With over 100 trillion stars, the IC 1101 in Virgo would not only swamp the Milky Way, but can also engulf the Andromeda Galaxy and most part of the Local Group.
Making its mark on the list is the currently known NGC 6872 galaxy, about 522,000 lightyears across. It is known to be about 5 times the size of our Milky Way!
Surely, looking out the window is not staring in the face of the cosmos. What we see and can comprehend are just specks of curiosity that have led us there. The universe holds secrets, and the deeper you dig, you are ought to come across something wonderful, something that will leave you stunned and in a loss of words. Just like these biggest things in the universe!
If you like this article then also read about The 5 Most Powerful Telescopes
