Space is something we have ruminated about, since our existence, yet we don’t know much about it. Space is even more vast than our brains can imagine. Space is INEFFABLE. We are going to try our best to get you to understand some aspects of space. Every day, when we wake up in the morning, we see the Sun rise up. And in the evening the opposite happens. The Sun plays a crucial role in our survival, but what is the Sun?
The Sun
The Sun is an important part of our Solar System. It is the most important component. It is almost completely made of plasma, which is made up of atomic nuclei and electrons floating around. Currently, around three-quarters of the Sun is made up of hydrogen and the rest is made up of helium.
The Sun has formed around 4.6 billion years ago and will last for about 10 billion years more. Nuclear fusion takes place at its core. It is a process in which hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium. The Sun is currently fusing 600 million tons of hydrogen to helium every second. As a result, 4 million tons of matter is converted to energy every second.
The Sun doesn't burst due to the extreme radiation pressure (pressure exerted by the fusion reactions) or get compressed by its gravity because both of them are equal.
Though we may think it is large, some stars are about 300 times larger than the Sun. Well, in the universe, there is always something larger!
Now, we know that the Sun has a lot of energy, but is there a way to harness it? Well, there are hypothetical models. These are called Dyson Spheres, named after Freeman Dyson.
The Dyson Sphere
A Dyson Sphere is a hypothetical megastructure which encompasses a star and utilizes the energy released. Only a tiny fraction of the star's energy reaches a planet. If a Dyson Sphere is built, the civilization on the planet would harvest a lot more energy. This concept was popularized by Freeman Dyson in one of his papers, in 1960.
There are many variants of the Dyson Sphere:
1. Dyson Swarm: It consists of separate satellites that orbit the star in a dense formation. A Dyson Ring is the simplest structure in which all the satellites have the same orbit, but even more complex structure could be made.
2. Dyson Bubble: Unlike Dyson Swarms, these will not move relative to the star.
3. Dyson Shell: This is a structure made of matter, which will use all the energy of the star. It would have a radius of the distance between the planet and the star.
For building a typical Dyson Sphere around the Sun, lots of resources would be needed. A whole planet would be exploited. Mercury is the best option. It has lots of metals, and releasing satellites would become easier due to the lack of an atmosphere and the low gravitational pull. The planet is close to the Sun. So, not much fuel would be needed. A satellite would be built and shot a high speed through a sort of a rail gun with electromagnetic tracks. After this, there would be an exponential increase. We could harvest the energy from the satellites launched and build more satellites. This could be quick. If a square kilometre of satellites takes about a month, the whole megastructure will be finished in a decade.
With all this energy, interstellar travel would be possible. Physicists think that other civilisations around the Milky Way Galaxy have already built Dyson Spheres. After building a
Dyson Sphere, the only limitation would be our imagination!
Space reminds you of something you heard commonly - A Black Hole. You might know that it pulls everything towards it, but what exactly is it?
Black Holes
Black holes are formed when a supernova star dies and explodes. This explosion produces a massive amount of energy. Black holes have been found but the one nearest to Earth is around 3000 light-years away. So, we don't have to worry!
Black holes have a massive amount of gravitational pull which can even pull light itself. Their outer boundary is called the event horizon. When it is crossed, it is impossible to escape. The centre of the black hole is called a singularity. It has been hypothesized that there is a black hole at the centre of our galaxy. Black holes get bigger as they consume more and more objects. They also get smaller by releasing 'Hawking Radiation'. Black holes have also been theorized to store whatever enters them. We see them as a two-dimensional object, but they live a three-dimensional life.
Scientists like Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein have helped develop theories about black holes.
Providing a video below for you to understand better!
Black Holes lead us to wormholes. You may not be familiar with wormholes, so let’s learn about them.
Wormholes
Albert Einstein and his colleague, Nathan Rosen, discovered that the theory of relativity allowed for the existence of space-time bridges called wormholes or Einstein-Rosen bridges.
There are six types of wormholes:
1. Traversable: These can be used for travelling from one point to another.
2. Non-Traversable: These cannot be travelled through. They have entry points, but no exit. The wormhole collapses before the object reaches the other end.
3. One-Way: These wormholes allow only one-way travel. Another wormhole is required for the return trip.
• Black Holes: Anything entering a black hole cannot escape due to its strong gravitational pull.
• White Holes: They are the opposite of black holes, and expel stuff.
4. Two-Way: These can be used for the whole round trip.
5. Intra-Universe: These can be used for travelling from place to place within the universe.
6. Inter-Universe: These connect the universe to another parallel universe.
There are naturally occurring wormholes at a microscopic level called primordial wormholes. They can transmit tiny particles from one place to another.
Humans can make wormholes of their own. These are called man-made wormholes. The biggest problem is keeping them open. Gravity tries to close the wormholes, forming black holes at the ends. For this, we will need something that repels gravity. We cannot use matter or even anti-matter. We will need something with a negative mass. This is exotic matter. It has not been discovered yet. There is still a big problem. Creating wormholes would lead us to time travel paradoxes, essentially disrupting the laws of physics.
So, for now, wormholes only exist in our hearts and on paper (in the form of equations)!
Providing a video below for you to understand better!
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