We are too small, small in front of the whole universe which is full of nothing, and that nothing is called space. Whenever astronauts visit space, we cheer for them, eagerly wait for their visiting news, and get excited for the visuals they send to the planet. The fact is they do not even see the nano percentage of our Milky Way Galaxy and not even the Planck Length of the whole universe, which is the smallest unit of measurement. Sounds scary, right?
Beyond the farthest distance from Earth an astronaut has travelled which was 401,056 km (249,205 mi), our Solar System has planets with extreme environments. Some with very hot and toxic air, and others with extremely cold and icy surfaces. More far away, there are stars that explode, black holes that are incredibly dense, and other strange objects like spinning pulsars and huge red giants. There are also massive clouds of dark dust and galaxies that collide with each other. And the fact together that we don't even know, what is beyond our Milky Way galaxy and what is universe actually is.
5 Scariest Things We Know About In Space
Asteroids
Asteroids are essentially big lumps of rock that roam around the planets and sun, with or without a predictable orbit. Some of them actually have a fixed path for their revolution. Millions of them exist, about which we know nothing. 66 million years ago, an asteroid named Chicxulub measuring 10km across crashed into Earth and killed the dinosaurs. Recently, in 2013, a small part of an asteroid named the Chelyabinsk meteor entered the earth's atmosphere in Chelyabinsk Russia and exploded. The explosion caused shockwaves which broke walls, glasses, and windshields around.
Solar Superstorm
A solar superstorm is a big burst of energy from stars like our sun. It can mess with a planet's magnetic field and gravity. Scientists call it a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). It can harm animals and damage electrical devices. In 2012, a strong CME from our sun hit a spacecraft called STEREO-A. In early May 2024, the sun was very active and released a series of solar storms that impacted Earth.
Black holes
A black hole is a region of space so dense and dark, that nothing can escape its gravitational pull if been a certain distance near it. Not even light or any other form of electromagnetic radiation can even escape there. Cross its ‘event horizon’ and you’ll disappear forever.
Corpses In Space
Space travel is much safer now, but it wasn't always the same. NASA has sent over 200 spacecraft into space, with over 430 people on board and similarly other space agencies also have sent hundreds of spacecraft. Sadly, some of these missions failed, and people died. What's even worse is that some of these failed spacecraft were never found, so they're still floating in space and have become debris and lost forever.
Dark Nebulae
A dark nebula is a big cloud in space that is so thick and dense that it blocks our view of the stars and other things behind it. It's like a big dark shadow in space that hides the light from the things that are behind it. These naked-eye objects like the Coalsack Nebula and the Great Rift are sometimes known as dark cloud constellations and take on a variety of names.
Now looking at one of the darkest matters is scary, but thinking of things behind it is much more frightening.
Conclusion
These were some scariest things around us in space, not even the countable ones if compared to other undiscovered and unimaginable things. We are still millions of lightyears away from most of these.
