Nothing can be older than the universe, as it contains everything, but the ancient "Methuselah star" (HD 140283) appears older due to measurement uncertainties, with some initial calculations suggesting ~14.5 billion years compared to the universe's ~13.8 billion years, a paradox resolved by acknowledging margins of error (±0.8 billion years), meaning it likely formed just after the Big Bang, not before.
The star Methuselah (HD 140283) is a metal-poor subgiant star that appeared to be older than the universe due to measurement uncertainties in its distance, chemical composition, and stellar models.
What lies beyond the universe? We are not sure but can theorize what lies beyond the universe that we know. Outside the bounds of our universe may lie a "super" universe. Space outside space that extends infinitely into what our little bubble of a universe may expand into forever.
Surprisingly, normal matter turns out to be only a small fraction of what the Universe contains. 95% of the Universe is made up of dark matter and dark energy. These are words astronomers have come up with to give a name to the mysterious, invisible side of the Universe.
Methuselah star (HD 140283) is a yellow subgiant located in the constellation Libra. It is one of the oldest stars known. With an estimated age of 14.46 ± 0.8 billion years, the star appears older than the universe itself.
In 1 sextillion years (10²¹ years), the universe will be a vastly different, dark place: the era of star formation will have ended, all stars will have burned out into white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes, planets will be cold and lifeless, and even protons might begin to decay, leading towards the "Big Freeze" or heat death, with only black holes slowly evaporating via Hawking radiation over unimaginable timescales. All familiar structures, including galaxies, will have long dissolved as the universe expands, leaving behind a cold, dark, and nearly empty expanse.
“It's totally 100% true – nearly all the elements in the human body were made in a star and many have come through several supernovas.”
Space, or outer space, is a vast, near-perfect vacuum largely devoid of matter. This vacuum contains very few particles compared with Earth's atmosphere. However, it's not entirely empty. Space is dotted with scattered matter called the interstellar medium, which includes hydrogen and helium atoms.
There is no single, physical place that God resides in our Universe. Where is God? The Bible tells us that God is spirit and resides in His spiritual home, Heaven. It's not a physical place that can be experienced by our human senses.
While rarely encountered on Earth, it is estimated that 99.9% of all ordinary matter in the universe is plasma. Stars are almost pure balls of plasma, and plasma dominates the rarefied intracluster medium and intergalactic medium.
We are extremely confident black holes exist due to overwhelming evidence like stars orbiting invisible, super-massive objects (Sagittarius A*), gravitational waves from merging black holes detected by LIGO, and direct imaging of their shadows by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). While "100% sure" is rare in science, the consistency between Einstein's relativity, observed phenomena, and these new direct proofs leaves virtually no doubt within the scientific community.
Yes, when you look at the Sun, you see it as it was about 8 minutes ago because light travels at a finite speed, taking roughly 8.3 minutes to cover the distance from the Sun to Earth, acting like a cosmic time machine, showing us the past of all celestial objects. This means if the Sun vanished, we wouldn't know for 8 minutes, and it also applies to everything else in space, with farther objects showing us even older history.
Not many theologians or philosophers think that space is more fundamental than the universe. They think that God brought space into being. This view implies that God is in some sense spaceless or “outside” space. God's relation to time, however, is a topic about which there continues to be deep disagreement.
In Big Bang cosmology, the Planck epoch or Planck era is the earliest stage of the Big Bang, before the time passed was equal to the Planck time, tP, or approximately 10−43 seconds.
1 hour on Earth can equal 7 years in space (or vice versa) due to time dilation, a concept from Einstein's relativity where strong gravity or extreme speeds slow down time relative to an outside observer, famously depicted in the movie Interstellar on a planet near a black hole where an hour for the crew meant years passing on Earth. It's not about speed alone in orbit (ISS astronauts age slightly slower), but about proximity to immense mass, like a black hole, bending spacetime so drastically that time crawls for those nearby compared to time far away.
Over the years, the Church of God has explained that God has a 7,000-year plan. While this is not specifically stated in Scripture, it is understood through history and scriptural analogy.
777 is considered the number of God (or divine perfection) in Christian and biblical traditions because it's a powerful emphasis of the number 7, symbolizing divine completeness, perfection, and holiness, often linked to the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and representing the perfect fulfillment of God's work, contrasting with the imperfection of 666 (Beast). While not explicitly named as God's number, its symbolism stems from the pervasive use of '7' for perfection in the Bible, like creation in seven days, with 777 being a triple reinforcement of this divine attribute.
Elon Musk's beliefs have evolved; while previously skeptical, he recently stated he believes "God is the Creator" and the universe came from "something," though he avoids strict religious labels, identifying more as a "cultural Christian" who values Christian principles for boosting happiness and birth rates, rather than subscribing to all traditional doctrines. He acknowledges a higher power but distinguishes this from a judging, moralistic deity, focusing on the creative origin of the cosmos.
The majority of prominent conceptions of God explicitly or effectively posit a being whose existence is not testable either by proof or disproof. Therefore, the question of God's existence may lie outside the purview of modern science by definition.
But eventually, the lack of oxygen will take its toll. One by one, your major organs will shut down. After only a handful of minutes you will suffer complete organ failure, otherwise known in the medical community as death.
About 95% of the universe is "invisible" because it's composed of dark matter (around 27%) and dark energy (around 68%), which don't emit, absorb, or reflect light, unlike the normal matter (stars, planets, us) that makes up the visible 5%. Dark matter's presence is inferred through its gravitational pull on visible galaxies, while dark energy is a mysterious force causing the universe's accelerated expansion.
Return to the Moon
Artemis II, scheduled for launch between February and April sees the return of the first people to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Three American and one Canadian astronaut will orbit the Moon on a 10 day journey that lays the foundation for lunar landings in the coming years.
We Are Stardust. Part of Hall of the Universe. Every atom of oxygen in our lungs, of carbon in our muscles, of calcium in our bones, of iron in our blood - was created inside a star before Earth was born. Hydrogen and helium, the lightest elements were produced in the Big Bang.
Water is your body's principal chemical component and makes up about 50% to 70% of your body weight. Your body depends on water to survive. Every cell, tissue and organ in your body needs water to work properly.
When the solar system settled into its current layout about 4.5 billion years ago, Earth formed when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust in to become the third planet from the Sun. Like its fellow terrestrial planets, Earth has a central core, a rocky mantle, and a solid crust.