Solar storms are a threat to our way of life.
Dark matter makes up a large portion of the universe's matter.
The Brain Hunter airs on La 2 on Mondays at 20:00 | Catalan broadcast at 8:40 p.m.
We studied some of the major puzzles of the universe in The Brain Hunter episode "The Mysteries of the Universe," uncovering intriguing facts: Where does the water on our planet come from? What is the total number of galaxies? What will happen at the end of the Universe? What impact may a solar storm have on us? o What is dark matter, and how does it work?
Rocks are the source of Earth's water.
Our planet was produced primarily of chondritic rocks, particularly carbonaceous chondrites, which contain water within their interiors (approximately 2-15 percent of their mass). This water is found in the form of hydrated minerals within the rock, but during the planetary formation process, some of it was released, resulting in the creation of the oceans.
What is the total number of galaxies in the universe?
"In astronomy, we know everything with very large errors," researcher Casiana Muoz, Deputy Director of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics, joked during the program, before adding that it is estimated that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies, which is a figure similar to the number of stars estimated to be within each typical galaxy.
What will happen at the end of the Universe?
Rafael Rebolo, director of the Instituto de Astrofsica de Canarias, informed us that the distances in the Universe are so immense that we may be going in one direction for the rest of our lives and never reach any edge. One of the few things that can be said with certainty about the latter phases of the cosmos is that objects will get increasingly distant from one another and stars will fade. This is due to the universe's ongoing expansion.
The Carrington occurrence
In 1859, a Solar Storm of such magnitude occurred that it destroyed the Earth's magnetosphere and reached the planet's surface, which became known as the Carrington event in astronomy. Remember that the Sun emits more energy into space every second than humanity have consumed in our entire history, and that only a percentage of that energy is emitted in the form of extremely energetic particles that make up the solar wind.
Solar Storms occur when these emissions are very strong, and the Carrington event was particularly powerful. It had an impact on the telegraphs of the day, and it serves as a reminder that, while extremely unusual, a severe enough Solar Storm might disrupt a significant portion of our technological infrastructure.
A Solar Storm of such magnitude was generated that it destroyed the Earth's magnetosphere and reached the planet's surface."
What is dark matter, exactly?
During the episode, researcher Casiana Muoz highlighted that while we don't know exactly what dark matter is, we do know that it makes up a significant portion of the universe's matter. And its discovery has been a central fact in astrophysics, answering questions like why there isn't enough observable stuff (non-dark matter) to provide the requisite gravity to build galaxies if we solely rely on observable matter (non-dark matter).
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