10 Wild things Discover astronomers while chasing something else

Most of the time, astronomers have a specific thing they are looking for when searching in the universe. But the universe is huge and mysterious, which leads to unprecedented discoveries.

These unexpected hibels are often cooler and more important than astronomers to explore. Here are ten of our favorite “cross” cosmic discoveries – unintended results that have contributed greatly to our understanding of the universe.

1. Uranus (1781)

In the spring of 1781, British astronomer William Hershel found a slow slow object in the Gemini constellation. Initially, Hershel, who was the index of stars at the time, was. convinced That the object was guilty. Follow -up notes revealed that they moved across the sky, and the advantages of the comet were clear visible. Later, the Finnish astronomer, Anders Johan, calculated the orbit of the discovery of Hershel, who strongly suggested that this was a planet called Uranus later, not guilty.

2. Ceres, the first asteroid … uh, dwarf planet (1801)

Likewise, the Italian astronomer Giusepe Piazzi was trying to create an accurate map of stars when a strange strange “star” noticed that he continued to move across the sky. Piazzi also believed that he was looking at a comet, but subsequent notes hinted that the object was a new planet revolving around the distance between Mars and Jupiter.

More analysis has stripped CERES from his planetary position, for a long time, was considered the first asteroid to discover ever. Then, during the Great Pluto cleansing in 2006, Cyris was Re -categorize As a dwarf planet.

3. Solar torches (1859)

In 1859, British astronomer Richard Carrington documented unintentionally what will be known as the name Carrington event. He was studying solar spots at the time and his telescope was referring to our host star when he I witnessed Surprising and intense flashing of light, later determined as a solar haven. The glow led to the strongest magnetic storm on the ground and discovered a completely new stellar phenomenon.

4. Cosmic X -ray (1962)

If this list is any evidence, then the middle of the twentieth century was a particularly fruitful time for astronomy. One of the important results of this period is that the sun radiates X -rays. A team led by Italian astronomical physicist Ricardo Jiakkoni sought to know whether the solar x -rays were wore from the moon and created lunar x -rays.

Instead, they found something much larger – evidence of X -ray background He grew up from outside the solar system. they The result The development of many X -ray telescopes, which played a fundamental role in shedding light on a variety of cosmic puzzles.

5. Cosmic microwave background (1964)

In May 1964, Arno Benzias and Robert Wilson were testing how radio waves wore balloon moons developed by Bill phone laboratories. But they continued to get unpleasant whims, as well as an unspeakable heat signal. Even after eliminating the disturbances – including a special segment of the bathroom – the noise continued.

Wilson told Wilson: “We, of course, were worried – what is the mistake in this system?” New York Times In a previous interview. “We were at the end of the length.”

Fortunately, the error was just the stars. The husband stumbled on evidence Cosmic microwave backgroundThe “remnants” of the explosive birth of our being – the big explosion.

6. Stars (1967)

The northern Irish physicist Jooslin Bell discovered a little “”straw“In the data recorded by a radio telescope, it helped build it. Bell, a graduate student at that time, did not acquire doubts from her colleagues and continued to study the strange pulse for the next three months. Its fruits, Bell confirmed that the strange light was a vibrant signal from Asia – the first known dubbing, which was later identified to be a neutral role.

This discover 1974 Nobel Prize in PhysicsDespite the Nobel Committee Neglected To learn about Bill’s critical contributions to this conclusion.

7. Gamma Ray’s bursts (1967)

Dust rings are launched by the gamma rays that were absolutely found. The observation was made by the XMM-Newton Observatory. Credit: ESA/XMM – Newton/M. Regosli (INAF)

Gamma-Rai drew the GRBS with American satellites to search for nuclear attacks during the Cold War. Defensive satellites have discovered about 15 cases of very foreign gamma rays that come from nuclear tests. Finally, the Los Alamos National Laboratory for investigation entered, and in 1973 the astronomical community was alerted to the presence of rays of gamma-the most powerful energy source in the universe.

Saying that GRBS causes a large splash will be at wild underestimation. Astrologists suddenly had a new cosmic source to explain countless lights not previously. To put this in its correct perspective, a Literature review I found that between 1973 and 2001, about 5,300 sheets were published on GRBS.

8. The first external planet (1992)

Astronomers have long believed in the existence of external planets – the stars around which the stars are not our sun – but it took centuries of wrong and controversial warnings before scientists found something indisputable abroad. During the study of plants, astronomers Alexander Wolstashan and Delil are fragile I was monitored A couple of planets – yes, two at the same time – they return to the neutron star.

Now equipped with more sophisticated tools, astronomers now find a planet outside the planets in a fixed clip. Just two weeks ago, the official Exoplanet warehouse arrived in NASA 6000 exoplanets.

9. Evidence of dark energy (1998)

Until 1998, astronomers generally believed that although the expansion of the universe accelerated after the big explosion, gravity will eventually lead to its slowdown. After that, two separate teams of astronomers noticed an unusually dimmed presence of 1A. After studying the distance and spectra, the scientists of the universe realized that the universe is expanding with an acceleration rate, rather than slowdown as expected. To understand this observation, suggest a virtual force: Dark energy. If Dark Matter is added to the mass of the universe, which leads to the assembly of things together, the dark energy works on the contrary, it is separated from the material and accelerates the expansion of the universe.

10. Fast Radio (2007)

In accidental astronomy, an accident appears to lead to another. During analysis through pulse data. In 2007, astronomical physicist Denkan Lorimer and his graduate student David Narkivic found a record in 2001 at a very short radio dawn-he tops only 5 milliliters-who issued a full month of sun.

“There are not many things in the universe you can do,” Lorimer said, “Lorimer said New world at that time. The pulse emit radiation at fixed periods, so the rapid radio bursts must come from individual events, at least, this is what scientists believe. This discovery is so modern that many puzzles still surround a rapid radio brush.