The vast universe was born in a singularity big bang 13.8 billion years ago. The moment of the big bang produced super high temperature energy. We all know that energy and matter can be transformed into each other, but the conditions required for energy transformation into matter are very harsh. Only the energy at the moment of the singularity big bang meets this condition, so the basic matter needed for the evolution of the universe was born.
With these basic substances, the universe is undergoing various evolutions in the process of continuous expansion, and finally various celestial bodies and cosmic structures such as stars, planets, and galaxies have been formed. How big is the universe? How many celestial bodies exist is still unknown, and the two most common celestial bodies in the universe are stars and planets.
Stars are very dazzling. They are the most important structure of the universe as a processing plant for the elements of the universe. Without stars, not only the basic element material cannot be transformed, but the universe will not be slightly bright and warm. Stars bring some light and warmth to the dark and cold universe. They are the brightest existence in the universe.
Planets often form around stars. After the stars are formed in the nebula where the stars are located, the remaining matter forms planets under the action of gravity. Therefore, under normal circumstances, planets are smaller than stars, and their masses are not comparable to those of stars. They can only revolve around the star.
In our traditional scientific cognition, it is certain that the mass of a planet is less than that of a star, because a star is also evolved from a primitive celestial body similar to a planet. When the mass of a planet reaches a certain level, it cannot maintain its role as a planet. The interior will ignite nuclear fusion due to pressure and high temperature and evolve into a constant quantity, so the mass of the planet must be smaller than the mass of the star.
Since planets cannot be compared with stars in terms of mass, can they be comparable in terms of volume? Many people may think that stars are huge celestial bodies with large masses and very large volumes. The masses of planets are incomparable, and their size is naturally incomparable with stars. Is this really true? Is there no planet bigger than a star in the universe?
There are eight planets in the solar system. The largest is Jupiter. Its mass is more than 300 times that of the earth. The earth is a baby in front of Jupiter. And the huge Jupiter is also very small in front of the sun, which is completely incomparable. So, are there any planets in other galaxies that are larger than their stars?
At first, scientists also believed that it was unlikely that there was a special situation in the universe where planets were larger than stars. However, a later observation found that scientists were silent. Scientists at ETH Zurich have discovered a newborn planet. The star is named HD 100546. Its diameter is seven times that of Jupiter and its temperature exceeds 600 degrees Celsius. It is a giant gaseous planet.
HD 100546 is relatively close to us, only about 335 light-years away. At such a short distance, being able to find such a huge planet is a miracle in the history of scientific observation. The age of this planet is very young, only about 5-10 million years, and it is still in the early stage of evolution just after it was born.
Planet HD 100546 is 100 times larger than Jupiter, with a diameter of about 60% of the diameter of the sun, and can hold more than 300,000 Earths. Some people may say that although HD 100546 is huge, it is still not as big as the sun, but let’s not forget that the sun is a yellow dwarf, a medium-sized star in the cosmic star family.
Below the yellow dwarf is a red dwarf, which is a relatively small class of stars in the star family. The smallest star in the universe discovered by humans is J0523, which is only 40 light-years away from the earth, which can be called a pocket-like star. star.
The diameter of this star is only 0.09 times that of the sun. Strictly speaking, its volume is not as large as Jupiter. In front of the planet HD 100546b, such a pocket star is also a small one, with a volume of only one-300th of that of HD 100546b.
Although the volume of this star is much smaller than HD 100546b, if you put it together, the planet still has to move around this pocket star. The reason is that no matter how large the planet is, its mass cannot surpass that of the star. Put them together, and there will be a peculiar cosmic landscape of a giant celestial body orbiting around a small dot.
Of course, this kind of giant hail orbiting around the small dotted ring is not very rare in the universe. It is necessary to know that after the life of a star reaches its end, its evolution will appear in three directions, one is to evolve into a white dwarf, and the other is to evolve into Neutron stars, while massive stars will evolve into black holes.
The volume of white dwarf stars and neutron stars is very small, and the diameter of a neutron star with the mass of the sun may be dozens of kilometers. Although the size is very small, if there are planets around, they must also orbit these very small and massive celestial bodies.
Compared with black holes, there is a huge gap between them. Black holes are the most mysterious and powerful celestial bodies in the universe. Because of their powerful swallowing power, even light can swallow them, so we cannot directly observe the body of black holes. See it swallow the horizon formed by celestial bodies. Theoretically, the body of a black hole may be something very massive like a singularity.
Our definition of a singularity is a substance with infinite density and infinite volume. Of course, this singularity of the black hole body may not be able to achieve infinite mass and infinitely small volume. It has a high probability of having a size, but it is much smaller than a neutron star.
It is the small singularity. Since its mass is greater than that of the star, the star must orbit the black hole after it enters its domain. If it is unlucky, it will be pulled into the horizon by the powerful gravitational force of the black hole. Step is swallowed by it. Not to mention the planet, once it gets close to the black hole, its fate is already doomed.
Through the above understanding, we can see that mass is the core that determines who the universe revolves around, while volume is just a virtual external manifestation. As long as your quality is much larger than the other party, even if the volume cannot be compared with the other party, then it can only run around you. This is the law that the quality of the universe is king.
From this we can also see that the universe is so big, there are all wonders, there are only things we dare not imagine, and nothing does not exist. However, it only took more than half a century for mankind to walk out of the earth and begin to explore the universe. Although there have been some achievements in the exploration of the universe, what we know is only some fur, and the observations are only the tip of the iceberg of the universe.
There must be many celestial bodies or other things beyond our cognition in the vast universe. If we want to explore more cosmic mysteries, we need to work hard to continuously develop science and technology. Only when the scientific and technological strength is strong, and we have the strength to cross the stars, can we hope to explore the universe step by step, uncover the mysteries of the universe, and finally dominate the universe.