Mega planets of the universe. The largest planet in the Universe

The solar system in which we live is just a small element of our galaxy, and the galaxy itself is a small element of the infinite Universe. Man has not yet fully studied his own system and the surrounding areas of space. Moreover, there are many “white spots” in the constellations that are light years away from us. The scale of the Universe is so large that only the largest planets are currently accessible to human study.

Giant from the constellation Hercules

But how big are they? Is it possible to answer the question, which planet is the largest? Scientists from Arizona (Lowell Laboratory) believe so.

In 2006, in the constellation Hercules, they discovered a planet whose dimensions exceed the dimensions of the Earth by 20 times. The planet was given the name TrES–4. This red-hot giant looks like a star, but is still a planet. TrES–4 is 1.7 times larger than Jupiter (the largest planet in the Solar System). According to currently available data, this is the largest planet in the Universe.

Hydrogen planet

Despite its titanic dimensions, TrES–4 is inferior to Jupiter in mass. This is explained by the fact that the planet consists of rarefied gases, mainly hydrogen. It is impossible to “land” on it. If a spaceship reached it, it would literally plunge into the planet. The density of its substance is only 0.33 g / cubic meter. cm. Therefore, with a radius of 1.706 RJ, the mass of the planet is only 0.917 MJ. Scientists are generally surprised that at such a low density the planet retains its shape without being dispersed in space.

The low density of TrES–4 is explained by its proximity to the star, which heats up the planet’s material. The temperature of its constituent gases reaches 1260 degrees Celsius (2300 Fahrenheit). The proximity to the star (4.5 million km) and the speed of its orbit also explain the surprisingly short year of TrES–4. The largest planet in space makes a complete revolution around its star in just 3.5 days.

The low density of the planet also gives rise to low gravity. As a result of this, and due to heating by the star, the planet cannot reliably retain its own matter. It is constantly enveloped in a cloud of gas and dust. TrES–4 is expanding, losing part of its atmosphere. As a result of this, the planet has a noticeable “tail”, like the ones that comets have.

At the time of its discovery, TrES–4 was the largest exoplanet known to mankind, but it was discovered only recently. This proves that the depths of space still hide many mysteries. Explorers of the Universe are constantly faced with new problems, and not all have yet been solved.

The term "Universe" refers to a space that has no boundaries and is filled with galaxies, pulsars, quasars, black holes and matter. Galaxies, in turn, consist of clusters of stars and star systems.

For example, the Milky Way includes 200 billion stars, among which the Sun is far from the largest and brightest. And our solar system, which includes the Earth and other planets, is certainly not the only one in the Universe. The largest and smallest planets of the Solar System and the Universe as a whole will be discussed below.

The largest planet in the solar system

Jupiter is a planet located in 5th place in terms of distance from the Sun and is recognized as the largest in the Solar System. The radius of the planet is 69,911 km.

Jupiter is a "shield" for the Earth, blocking the path of comets and other celestial bodies due to its gravity.
The temperature of Jupiter's core is 20,000 °C.
There are no solid places on the surface of Jupiter; instead, a boiling hydrogen ocean rages.
The mass of Jupiter is 2.5 times greater than the total mass of the other planets of the Solar System and amounts to 1.8986*10²⁷ kg.

Jupiter has the largest number of satellites in the solar system - 63 objects. And on Europa (a satellite of Jupiter) there is supposedly water under ice deposits.
The Great Red Spot is an atmospheric vortex on Jupiter that has not subsided for 300 years. Its size is gradually decreasing, but even 100 years ago the volume of the vortex was compared with the volume of the Earth.
A day on Jupiter is only 10 Earth hours, and a year is 12 Earth years.

The smallest planet in the solar system

Not long ago, this title was transferred to the planet Mercury from Pluto, which was previously included in the Solar System as a planet, but since August 2006 it is not considered one.

Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun. Its radius is 2,439.7 km.

Mercury is the only planet that has no natural satellites.
A day on Mercury is equivalent to 176 Earth days.
The first mention of Mercury was recorded 3,000 years ago.

The temperature range on Mercury is impressive: at night the temperature reaches -167°C, during the day – up to +480°C.
Reserves of water ice have been discovered at the bottom of Mercury's deep craters.
Clouds form at the poles of Mercury.
The mass of Mercury is 3.3*10²³ kg.

The largest stars in the Universe

Betelgeuse. One of the brightest stars in the sky and one of the largest in the Universe (red hypergiant). Another common name for the object is Alpha Orionis. As its second name suggests, Betelgeuse is located in the constellation Orion. The size of the star is 1180 solar radii (the radius of the Sun is 690,000 km).

Scientists believe that over the next millennium, Betelgeuse will degenerate into a supernova because it is rapidly aging, although it was formed not so long ago - several million years ago. Considering that the distance from Earth is only 640 light years, our descendants will witness one of the greatest spectacles in the Universe.

RW Cepheus. A star in the constellation Cepheus, also recognized as a red hypergiant. True, scientists are still debating about its size. Some argue that the radius RW of Cepheus is equal to 1260 radii of the Sun, others believe that it should be equated to 1650 radii. The stellar object is 11,500 light years away from Earth.

KW Sagittarius. A red supergiant located in the constellation Sagittarius. The distance to the Sun is 10,000 light years. As for the size, the radius of the supergiant is equal to 1460 solar radii.

KY Swan. A star belonging to the constellation Cygnus and distant from Earth at a distance of 5,000 light years. Since today scientists have not yet received a clear image of the object, debate about its size is still ongoing. Most believe that the radius of KY Cygnus is 1420 solar radii. An alternative version is 2850 radii.

V354 Cephei. Red supergiant and variable star of the Milky Way galaxy. The radius of V354 Cepheus is 1520 times that of the Sun. The stellar object is located relatively close to Earth - only 9,000 light years away.

WOH G64. A red hypergiant star located in the constellation Doradus, which in turn belongs to the dwarf galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud. The star WOH G64 is 1540 times larger than the Sun and 40 times heavier.

V838 Unicorn. A red variable star belonging to the constellation Monoceros. The distance from the star to Earth is equal to 20,000 light years, so the calculations made on the size of V838 Monoceros are only approximate. Today it is generally accepted that the size of the object exceeds the size of the Sun by 1170-1970 times.

Mu Cephei. Also known as Herschel's Garnet Star. It is a red supergiant located in the constellation Cepheus (Milky Way galaxy). In addition to its size (Mu Cephei is 1650 times larger than the Sun), the star is notable for its brightness. It is more than 38,000 times brighter than the Sun, making it one of the brightest luminaries in the Milky Way.

VV Cephei A. A red hypergiant that belongs to the constellation Cepheus and is 2,400 light years away from Earth. The size of VV Cepheus A is 1800 times the size of the Sun. As for the mass, it exceeds the solar mass by 100 times. It has been scientifically confirmed that component A is a physically variable star that pulsates with a periodicity of 150 days

VY Canis Majoris. The largest star in the Universe is located in the constellation Canis Major and is a red hypergiant. The distance from the star to Earth is equal to 5,000 light years. The radius of VY Canis Majoris was determined in 2005; it is 2,000 solar radii. And the mass exceeds the solar mass by 40 times.

Magnetic planets

The magnetic field cannot be observed visually, but its presence or absence is recorded with a high degree of accuracy by modern instruments. The earth is a huge magnet. Thanks to this, our planet is protected from cosmic radiation generated by the solar wind - highly charged particles “shot” by the Sun.

The Earth's protective magnetosphere deflects the approaching flows of these particles and directs them around its axis. In the absence of a magnetic field, cosmic radiation will destroy the atmosphere on Earth. Scientists suggest that this is exactly what happened on Mars.

There is no magnetic field on Mars, but magnetic poles have been discovered on it, reminiscent of the magnetosphere at the bottom of Earth's oceans. The magnetic poles of Mars are so strong that they extend hundreds of kilometers into the atmosphere. In addition, they interact with cosmic radiation and even create auroras, recorded by scientists.

However, the absence of a magnetosphere is a consequence of the lack of liquid water on Mars. And in order for a person to move safely on the surface of the planet, it is necessary to develop individual protection, a personal “magnetic field” for everyone.

3. Mercury's magnetic field. Mercury, like the Earth, is protected by a magnetosphere. This discovery was made in 1974. The planet also has north and south magnetic poles. The South Pole is exposed to much more radiation than the North Pole.

A new phenomenon has also been discovered on Mercury - magnetic tornadoes. They are twisted beams originating in a magnetic field and moving into interplanetary space. Mercury's magnetic tornadoes are capable of covering an area 800 km wide and up to a third of the radius of the planet.

4. Magnetosphere of Venus. Venus, which is often compared to the Earth and even considered its twin, also has a magnetic field, although it is extremely weak, 10,000 times weaker than the Earth’s. Scientists have not yet established the reasons for this.

5. Magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter's magnetosphere is 20,000 times stronger than Earth's and is considered the largest in the solar system. Electrically charged particles surrounding the planet periodically interact with other planets and objects, harming their protective shells.

Saturn's magnetic field is notable only for the fact that its axis coincides 100% with the axis of rotation, which is not observed for other planets.

6. Magnetic field of Uranus and Neptune. The magnetospheres of Uranus and Neptune differ from the other planets in that they have 2 north and 2 south poles. However, the nature of the emergence and interaction of fields with interplanetary space is not completely clear.

The largest planet in the Universe

TrES-4 is recognized as the No. 1 planet in the Universe by its size. It was discovered only in 2006. TrES-4 is a planet in the Hercules constellation, its distance from Earth is 1,400 light years.

The giant planet is 1.7 times larger than Jupiter (Jupiter's radius is 69,911 km), and its temperature reaches 1260°C. Scientists are convinced that the planet TrES-4 does not have a solid surface, and the main component of the planet is hydrogen.

The smallest planet in the Universe

In 2013, scientists discovered a planet recognized as the smallest in the Universe - Kepler-37b. This planet is one of three planets orbiting the star Kepler-37.

Its exact dimensions have not yet been established, but in terms of dimensions Kepler-37b is comparable to the Moon, whose radius is 1737.1 km. Presumably, the planet Kepler-37b consists of rock.

Giant satellites and the smallest satellites in space

The largest satellite in the Universe today is considered to be Ganymede, a satellite of Jupiter. Its diameter is 5270 km. Ganymede mostly consists of ice and silicates, the core of the satellite is liquid, scientists even suggest the presence of water in it. Ganymede also forms its own magnetosphere and a thin atmosphere in which oxygen is found.

The smallest satellite in the Universe is considered to be S/2010 J 2. It is noteworthy that this is again a satellite of Jupiter. The diameter of S/2010 J 2 is 2 km. Its discovery occurred in 2010, and today the detailed characteristics of the satellite are only being studied using modern instruments.

The universe is equally known and unknown to mankind, since this space is extremely changeable. And although today people’s knowledge is hundreds of times greater than the knowledge of our predecessors, scientists say that all the greatest discoveries of the Universe are yet to come.

The seemingly inconspicuous UY Shield

Modern astrophysics, in terms of stars, seems to be reliving its infancy. Star observations provide more questions than answers. Therefore, when asking which star is the largest in the Universe, you need to be immediately prepared for answering questions. Are you asking about the largest star known to science, or about what limits science limits a star? As is usually the case, in both cases you will not get a clear answer. The most likely candidate for the biggest star quite equally shares the palm with its “neighbors.” How much smaller it may be than the real “king of the star” also remains open.

Comparison of the sizes of the Sun and the star UY Scuti. The Sun is an almost invisible pixel to the left of UY Scutum.

With some reservations, the supergiant UY Scuti can be called the largest star observed today. Why “with reservation” will be stated below. UY Scuti is 9,500 light-years away from us and is observed as a faint variable star, visible in a small telescope. According to astronomers, its radius exceeds 1,700 solar radii, and during the pulsation period this size can increase to as much as 2,000.

It turns out that if such a star were placed in the place of the Sun, the current orbits of a terrestrial planet would be in the depths of a supergiant, and the boundaries of its photosphere would at times abut the orbit. If we imagine our Earth as a grain of buckwheat, and the Sun as a watermelon, then the diameter of the UY Shield will be comparable to the height of the Ostankino TV tower.

To fly around such a star at the speed of light it will take as much as 7-8 hours. Let us remember that the light emitted by the Sun reaches our planet in just 8 minutes. If you fly at the same speed as it makes one revolution around the Earth in an hour and a half, then the flight around UY Scuti will last about 36 years. Now let’s imagine these scales, taking into account that the ISS flies 20 times faster than a bullet and tens of times faster than passenger airliners.

Mass and luminosity of UY Scuti

It is worth noting that such a monstrous size of the UY Shield is completely incomparable with its other parameters. This star is “only” 7-10 times more massive than the Sun. It turns out that the average density of this supergiant is almost a million times lower than the density of the air around us! For comparison, the density of the Sun is one and a half times higher than the density of water, and a grain of matter even “weighs” millions of tons. Roughly speaking, the averaged matter of such a star is similar in density to a layer of atmosphere located at an altitude of about one hundred kilometers above sea level. This layer, also called the Karman line, is the conventional boundary between the earth's atmosphere and space. It turns out that the density of the UY Shield is only slightly short of the vacuum of space!

Also UY Scutum is not the brightest. With its own luminosity of 340,000 solar, it is tens of times dimmer than the brightest stars. A good example is the star R136, which, being the most massive star known today (265 solar masses), is almost nine million times brighter than the Sun. Moreover, the star is only 36 times larger than the Sun. It turns out that R136 is 25 times brighter and about the same number of times more massive than UY Scuti, despite the fact that it is 50 times smaller than the giant.

Physical parameters of UY Shield

Overall, UY Scuti is a pulsating variable red supergiant of spectral class M4Ia. That is, on the Hertzsprung-Russell spectrum-luminosity diagram, UY Scuti is located in the upper right corner.

At the moment, the star is approaching the final stages of its evolution. Like all supergiants, it began actively burning helium and some other heavier elements. According to modern models, in a matter of millions of years, UY Scuti will successively transform into a yellow supergiant, then into a bright blue variable or Wolf-Rayet star. The final stages of its evolution will be a supernova explosion, during which the star will shed its shell, most likely leaving behind a neutron star.

Already now, UY Scuti is showing its activity in the form of semi-regular variability with an approximate pulsation period of 740 days. Considering that the star can change its radius from 1700 to 2000 solar radii, the speed of its expansion and contraction is comparable to the speed of spaceships! Its mass loss is at an impressive rate of 58 million solar masses per year (or 19 Earth masses per year). This is almost one and a half Earth masses per month. Thus, being on the main sequence millions of years ago, UY Scuti could have had a mass of 25 to 40 solar masses.

Giants among the stars

Returning to the disclaimer stated above, we note that the primacy of UY Scuti as the largest known star cannot be called unambiguous. The fact is that astronomers still cannot determine the distance to most stars with a sufficient degree of accuracy, and therefore estimate their sizes. In addition, large stars are usually very unstable (remember the pulsation of UY Scuti). Likewise, they have a rather blurry structure. They may have a fairly extensive atmosphere, opaque shells of gas and dust, disks, or a large companion star (for example, VV Cephei, see below). It is impossible to say exactly where the boundary of such stars lies. After all, the established concept of the boundary of stars as the radius of their photosphere is already extremely arbitrary.

Therefore, this number can include about a dozen stars, which include NML Cygnus, VV Cephei A, VY Canis Majoris, WOH G64 and some others. All these stars are located in the vicinity of our galaxy (including its satellites) and are in many ways similar to each other. All of them are red supergiants or hypergiants (see below for the difference between super and hyper). Each of them will turn into a supernova in a few millions, or even thousands of years. They are also similar in size, lying in the range of 1400-2000 solar.

Each of these stars has its own peculiarity. So in UY Scutum this feature is the previously mentioned variability. WOH G64 has a toroidal gas-dust shell. Extremely interesting is the double eclipsing variable star VV Cephei. It is a close system of two stars, consisting of the red hypergiant VV Cephei A and the blue main sequence star VV Cephei B. The centra of these stars are located from each other at some 17-34 . Considering that the radius of VV Cepheus B can reach 9 AU. (1900 solar radii), the stars are located at “arm’s length” from each other. Their tandem is so close that whole pieces of the hypergiant flow at enormous speeds onto the “little neighbor”, which is almost 200 times smaller than it.

Looking for a leader

Under such conditions, estimating the size of stars is already problematic. How can we talk about the size of a star if its atmosphere flows into another star, or smoothly turns into a disk of gas and dust? This is despite the fact that the star itself consists of very rarefied gas.

Moreover, all the largest stars are extremely unstable and short-lived. Such stars can live for a few millions, or even hundreds of thousands of years. Therefore, when observing a giant star in another galaxy, you can be sure that a neutron star is now pulsating in its place or a black hole is bending space, surrounded by the remnants of a supernova explosion. Even if such a star is thousands of light years away from us, one cannot be completely sure that it still exists or remains the same giant.

Let us add to this the imperfection of modern methods for determining the distance to stars and a number of unspecified problems. It turns out that even among a dozen known largest stars it is impossible to identify a specific leader and arrange them in order of increasing size. In this case, UY Shield was cited as the most likely candidate to lead the Big Ten. This does not mean at all that his leadership is undeniable and that, for example, NML Cygnus or VY Canis Majoris cannot be greater than her. Therefore, different sources may answer the question about the largest known star in different ways. This speaks less of their incompetence than of the fact that science cannot give unambiguous answers even to such direct questions.

Largest in the Universe

If science does not undertake to single out the largest among the discovered stars, how can we talk about which star is the largest in the Universe? Scientists estimate that the number of stars, even within the observable Universe, is ten times greater than the number of grains of sand on all the beaches of the world. Of course, even the most powerful modern telescopes can see an unimaginably smaller portion of them. It will not help in the search for a “stellar leader” that the largest stars can stand out for their luminosity. Whatever their brightness, it will fade when observing distant galaxies. Moreover, as noted earlier, the brightest stars are not the largest (for example, R136).

Let us also remember that when observing a large star in a distant galaxy, we will actually see its “ghost”. Therefore, it is not easy to find the largest star in the Universe; searching for it will simply be pointless.

Hypergiants

If the largest star is practically impossible to find, maybe it’s worth developing it theoretically? That is, to find a certain limit after which the existence of a star can no longer be a star. However, even here modern science faces a problem. The modern theoretical model of evolution and physics of stars does not explain much of what actually exists and is observed in telescopes. An example of this is hypergiants.

Astronomers have repeatedly had to raise the bar for the limit of stellar mass. This limit was first introduced in 1924 by the English astrophysicist Arthur Eddington. Having obtained a cubic dependence of the luminosity of stars on their mass. Eddington realized that a star cannot accumulate mass indefinitely. The brightness increases faster than the mass, and this will sooner or later lead to a violation of hydrostatic equilibrium. The light pressure of increasing brightness will literally blow away the outer layers of the star. The limit calculated by Eddington was 65 solar masses. Subsequently, astrophysicists refined his calculations by adding unaccounted components and using powerful computers. So the current theoretical limit for the mass of stars is 150 solar masses. Now remember that R136a1 has a mass of 265 solar masses, which is almost twice the theoretical limit!

R136a1 is the most massive star currently known. In addition to it, several other stars have significant masses, the number of which in our galaxy can be counted on one hand. Such stars were called hypergiants. Note that R136a1 is significantly smaller than stars that, it would seem, should be lower in class - for example, the supergiant UY Scuti. This is because it is not the largest stars that are called hypergiants, but the most massive ones. For such stars, a separate class was created on the spectrum-luminosity diagram (O), located above the class of supergiants (Ia). The exact initial mass of a hypergiant has not been established, but, as a rule, their mass exceeds 100 solar masses. None of the Big Ten's biggest stars measure up to those limits.

Theoretical dead end

Modern science cannot explain the nature of the existence of stars whose mass exceeds 150 solar masses. This raises the question of how one can determine the theoretical limit on the size of stars if the radius of a star, unlike mass, is itself a vague concept.

Let us take into account the fact that it is not known exactly what the stars of the first generation were like, and what they will be like during the further evolution of the Universe. Changes in the composition and metallicity of stars can lead to radical changes in their structure. Astrophysicists have yet to comprehend the surprises that further observations and theoretical research will present to them. It is quite possible that UY Scuti may turn out to be a real crumb against the background of a hypothetical “king star” that shines somewhere or will shine in the farthest corners of our Universe.

The oceans are, of course, vast, and the mountains are impressive in their size. 7 billion people is also not a small number. Since we live on planet Earth (which has a diameter of 12,742 km), it is easy for us to forget how tiny we truly are. To realize this, all we have to do is look at the night sky. Looking into it, it becomes clear that we are just a speck of dust in an unimaginably vast universe. The list of objects below will help put human greatness into perspective.

10. Jupiter
Largest planet (diameter 142.984 km)

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Ancient astronomers called Jupiter the king of the Roman gods. Jupiter is the 5th planet from the Sun. Its atmosphere consists of 84% hydrogen and 15% helium with small additions of acetylene, ammonia, ethane, methane, phosphite and water vapor. The mass of Jupiter is 318 times greater than the mass of the Earth, and its diameter is 11 times greater than that of the Earth. The mass of Jupiter is 70% of the mass of all other planets in our solar system. Jupiter's volume can accommodate 1,300 Earth-sized planets. Jupiter has 63 satellites (moons) known to science, but almost all of them are very small and dim.

9. Sun
The largest object in the Solar System (diameter 1,391,980 km)

The Sun (yellow dwarf star) is the largest object in the Solar System. Its mass makes up 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System, and Jupiter's mass takes up almost the rest. At the moment, the mass of the Sun consists of 70% hydrogen and 28% helium. All other components (metals) occupy less than 2%. The percentages change very slowly as the Sun converts hydrogen into helium at its core. Conditions in the Sun's core, which occupies approximately 25% of the star's radius, are extreme. The temperature reaches 15.6 million degrees Kelvin, and the pressure reaches 250 billion atmospheres. The solar power of 386 billion megawatts is provided by nuclear fusion reactions. Every second, about 700,000,000 tons of hydrogen are converted into 695,000,000 tons of helium and 5,000,000 tons of energy in the form of gamma rays.

8. Solar system

Our solar system consists of a central star (the Sun) and nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, as well as numerous moons, millions of rocky asteroids and billions of icy comets.

7. VY Canis Majoris (VY CMa)
The largest star in the Universe (3 billion kilometers in diameter)

The star VY Canis Majoris (VY Canis Majoris) is the largest and also one of the brightest stars known at the moment. It is a red hypergiant in the constellation Canis Major. Its radius is 1800-2200 times greater than the radius of the Sun, and its diameter is 3 billion kilometers. If it were placed in our solar system, its surface would extend beyond the orbit of Saturn. Some astronomers disagree with this statement and believe that the star VY Canis Majoris is actually much smaller, only 600 times larger than the Sun, and would only stretch to the orbit of Mars.

6. The Largest Amount of Water Ever Discovered

Astronomers have discovered the largest and oldest mass of water ever discovered in the Universe. The giant 12-billion-year-old cloud carries 140 trillion times more water than all of Earth's oceans combined. A cloud of water vapor surrounds a supermassive black hole called a Quasar, located 12 billion light-years from Earth. According to scientists, this discovery proved that water has dominated the Universe throughout its existence.

5. Extremely huge supermassive black holes
(21 billion times the mass of the Sun)

A supermassive black hole is the largest type of black hole in a galaxy, ranging in size from hundreds of thousands to billions of solar masses. Most, if not all, galaxies, including the Milky Way, are believed to contain a supermassive black hole at their center. One of these newly discovered monsters, weighing 21 billion times the mass of the Sun, is an egg-shaped swirl of stars. It is known as NGC 4889, the brightest galaxy in a sprawling cloud of thousands of galaxies. This cloud is located 336 million light years from the constellation Coma Berenices. This black hole is so big that our entire solar system would fit there about a dozen times over.

4. Milky Way
100,000-120,000 light years in diameter

The Milky Way is a closed spiral galaxy with a diameter of 100,000-120,000 light years and containing 200-400 billion stars. It may contain at least that many planets, 10 billion of which may orbit within the habitable zone of their parent stars.

3. El Gordo "El Gordo"
Largest galaxy cluster (2×1015 solar masses)

El Gordo is located over 7 billion light years from Earth, meaning it has been observed since birth. According to scientists involved in the study, this cluster of galaxies is the most massive, hottest and emits more X-rays than any other known cluster at this distance or even further.

The central galaxy in the middle of El Gordo is unusually bright and has amazing blue rays at optical wavelengths. The authors believe that this extreme galaxy was formed as a result of the collision and merger of two galaxies at the center of each cluster.

Using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and optical images, it was estimated that about 1% of the cluster's total mass is occupied by stars, while the rest is hot gas filling the gaps between stars and visible to the Chandra telescope. This ratio of gas to stars is consistent with results obtained from other massive clusters.

2. Universe
Estimated size - 156 billion light years

A picture is worth a thousand words, so look at this poster and try to imagine/understand how big our Universe is. The mind-blowing numbers are listed below. Here is the link to the full size

– then you will undoubtedly be very interested.

Today we will find out which planet in the solar system is the largest. But let's start with the basic concepts.

The largest planets in the solar system

In relation to other celestial bodies, it belongs to the category of “minor planets” of the Solar System. We are talking about the largest space objects.

Right now you will learn the most interesting facts about the unique features of the planets of the solar system, which you probably have not heard about before.

Classification of planets

First of all, you should understand what types of planets are divided into. The solar system is divided into two parts by the main asteroid belt:

The first includes , and ;
The second group includes, and;
At the very end is the Kuiper Belt.

Astronomers designated the first four celestial bodies as "Terrestrial Planets".

In addition to their location in outer space, they are similar to each other in the presence of a core, metals and silicon, as well as a mantle and crust. Earth is in first place in this list in terms of volume.

Astronomers call the second four planets "Gas giants". They are significantly larger in size than terrestrial planets. The uniqueness of the largest planets lies in the fact that they are rich in the presence of various gases: hydrogen, methane, ammonia and helium.

Is Pluto a planet or not?

In 2006, scientists decided that Pluto should be classified as dwarf planets, including it in the Kuiper belt. According to astronomers, Pluto does not meet any of the conditions by which it is customary to define full-fledged planets.

The main argument is that Pluto does not have enough mass to clear its orbit of other objects. As a result of these scientific researches, instead of the traditional 9 planets in the solar system, there is one less.

The largest planet in the solar system

The largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter, which belongs to the category of gas giants. According to astronomers' research, it has repeatedly protected our Earth from meteorites.

Planet Jupiter

Since we have found out that Jupiter has the status of “The Largest Planet,” let’s look at some interesting facts about it.

Amazing dimensions

Jupiter is 1300 times larger in volume than Earth. To make this easier to understand, the following comparison should be made: if the Earth could be reduced to the size of a pea, then Jupiter, in relation to it, would be the size of a basketball.

Comparative sizes of Jupiter and Earth

The speed of rotation of this giant planet is also amazing. Jupiter makes 1 revolution around its axis in 10 hours at a speed of 13.07 km/s.

In order for the largest planet to pass through its orbit once, 12 Earth years must pass. However, this is quite a bit, considering that Jupiter is 5 times farther from the Sun than our Earth.

Ephemeral surface

Did you know that no one will ever be able to set foot on the surface of Jupiter? And all because the atmosphere of the largest planet consists of helium and hydrogen in proportions of 1:9.

Essentially, it flows into hydrogen. In simple terms, this giant simply does not have any distinctions between the atmosphere and the surface. The boundaries of Jupiter are very blurry and abstract, and are determined only by pressure differences.

Clouds and spots

Looking at photographs of Jupiter, it is not difficult to notice specific striped patterns on them. In fact, these are clouds: light zones alternate with red-brown belts.

Strong wind currents pass between them, which are called jets. They can move in completely different directions.

The main feature of Jupiter

Another unique feature of Jupiter is the Great Red Spot (GRS). This is the largest atmospheric vortex in the solar system.

Such formations in terms of brightness and durability have not been identified on any other planet. Interestingly, the BKP can move around Jupiter, changing only its longitude. The latitude has remained unchanged for more than 350 years.

In addition, at times the spot either increases or decreases. But overall the trend is downward.

According to the latest data from researchers: The Great Red Spot is a huge anticyclone that makes 1 revolution every 6 days.

The second largest planet in the solar system

The second largest planet is Saturn. It is very easy to recognize in photographs due to its distinctive rings.

By the way, all gas giants have exactly the same rings, they are just not so noticeable. They contain, along with heavy elements and cosmic dust, ice particles.

Saturn also contains methane, helium, hydrogen and ammonia, and continuous winds rage on the surface.

Frost giants

Following Saturn in decreasing magnitude are Uranus and Neptune. Scientists classify these planets as ice giants due to the lack of metallic hydrogen in them and a huge amount of ice.

What makes Uranus unique is the tilt of its axis. This planet literally lies on its side, which is why the sun's rays alternately illuminate only its poles.

Strong winds constantly rage on Neptune. It also exhibits a distinctive formation, much like the Great Red Spot. Astronomers named this area the Great Dark Spot (also known as GDS-89).

So, now you know that the largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter. However, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are also giant planets and have their own unique characteristics.

To be honest, we still have very modest knowledge of what is happening in our Solar System, not to mention the Universe as a whole.

One thing is for sure: there will be many interesting discoveries in the future.