Is our Solar System stuck in a galactic dead zone? (science video)

Why do dark forces from space seem to swirl around our humble solar system? Are we actually drowning in a cosmic sea of deadly black holes and dead stars?

David Sweeney chats about this fascinating topic – he is a Fulbright Scholar and a PhD candidate in astrophysics at the University of Sydney.

In particular, he is interested in how machine learning approaches might be applied to issues in gravitational lensing research.

The idea of “dark forces from space” is popular in science fiction and conspiracy theories, but is there any scientific basis for this concept?

In reality, there are several celestial objects that are often referred to as “dark” because of their properties and behavior. These include black holes and brown dwarfs.

Black holes are regions of space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. We often depict them as being incredibly destructive, swallowing up everything in their path. While black holes pose a potential danger to celestial objects that come too close, they are not swirling around our solar system and do not pose a direct threat to us.

Brown dwarfs, on the other hand, are objects that are too small to sustain the nuclear fusion reactions that power stars, but are too large to be considered planets. We often refer to them to as “failed stars” and are typically much cooler and less luminous than stars. While brown dwarfs may be more common in the universe than stars, they are still relatively rare and are not present in large numbers in our solar system.

It is also worth noting that there are several celestial objects that are referred to as “dead stars,” such as white dwarfs and neutron stars. These objects are the remnants of stars that have exhausted their fuel and have collapsed. While they are not actively producing energy, they are not necessarily “dead” in the sense of being completely inactive.

While it may be tempting to imagine our solar system as being surrounded by dark forces from space, the reality is that these objects are not present in large numbers and do not pose a direct threat to us. Black holes, brown dwarfs, and other “dark” objects are simply a natural part of the universe and should not be viewed as malevolent forces.