Five Strange and Unusual Astronomical Features

ho knew the universe could contain such beautiful and unusual objects? This article shows you some of the weirdest astronomical features ever found.

1. The Sombrero Galaxy

   
   
   As you can see, the Sombrero Galaxy got its name from its sombrero-like shape. This galaxy is an unbarred spiral galaxy, with a super massive black hole in the center. The distinct outer edges make it look like the edge of a sombrero hat. This galaxy has a magnitude of 9.0, which means you can see it on basically any telescope. This galaxy is also known as either M104 or NGC 4594.

2. Merging Galaxies

   
   
   Fact: Galaxies can collide. These two galaxies are going to collide over millions of years and they either merge or one of them is going to overtake the other.

3. Black Hole

   
   Image Source
   
   A black hole in definition is "a region of space so powerful that nothing, not even light, can escape". A black hole is made when a huge supernova (see number 4) collapses in on itself, and the gravitational collapse continues forever. That is known as a stellar-mass black hole. Another type of black hole is a super massive black hole. It is theorized that a super massive black hole is at the center of each galaxy, and every single star in the galaxy is being pulled in towards it (including the Sun!)

4. Supernova

   
   
   A supernova occurs when a massive star dies, releasing a huge amount of gamma rays.
   After the supernova, the once massive star becomes a neutron star, white dwarf, or if large enough, a black hole.

5. Horsehead Nebula

   
   
   This strange nebula is an example of a dark nebula, a cloud of dust so dense that it blocks out the background nebula. This nebula looks strangely like a horse's head.

Hopefully you learned something about astronomy today, and there might be stranger things out there than the five I showed you. Thanks for looking!