The heaviest substance in the universe

Osmium for today is defined as the most difficult substance on the planet. Only one cubic centimeter of this substance weighs 22.6 grams. It was opened in 1804 by the English chemist Smithson Tennant, with the dissolution of gold in royal vodka. After chemical experiment , a sediment remained in the test tube. This is due to the particular osmium, it is insoluble in alkalis and acids.

The hardest element on the planet

It is a bluish-white metallic powder. In nature it occurs in the form of seven isotopes, six of them are stable and one is unstable. The density slightly exceeds iridium, which has a density of 22.4 grams per cubic centimeter. Of the materials found to date, the most difficult substance in the world is osmium. It belongs to the group of rare-earth metals, such as lanthanum, yttrium, scandium and other lanthanides.

More expensive than gold and diamonds

It is mined very little, about ten thousand kilograms a year. Even in the largest source of osmium, the Dzhezkazgan deposit, there are about three ten million shares. The exchange value of rare metal in the world reaches about 200 thousand dollars per gram. At the same time, the maximum purity of the element in the purification process is about seventy percent. Although in Russian laboratories it was possible to obtain a purity of 90.4 percent, but the amount of metal did not exceed several milligrams.

Density of matter outside the planet Earth

Osmium, no doubt, is the leader of the most difficult elements of our planet. But if we turn our gaze into space, then to our attention will open a lot of substances more heavy than our "king" of heavy elements.

The fact is that in the universe there are several other conditions than on the Earth. The gravity of a number of cosmic objects is so great that the substance is immensely compacted.

If we consider the structure of an atom, it will be found that the distances in the interatomic world are somewhat like the cosmos we see. Where planets, stars and other cosmic bodies are at a sufficiently long distance. The rest is empty. It is this structure that atoms have, and with strong gravity, this distance decreases quite strongly. Up to "pushing" some elementary particles into others.

Neutron stars are superdense objects of space

In searches outside our Earth, we will be able to detect the heaviest matter in space on neutron stars. These are quite unique space inhabitants, one of the possible types of evolution of stars. The diameter of such objects is from 10 to 200 kilometers, with a mass equal to our Sun or 2-3 times more.

This cosmic body basically consists of a neutron core, which consists of flowing neutrons. Although, according to some assumptions of scientists, it must be in a firm state, there is no reliable information for today. However, it is known that it is neutron stars that, reaching their compression repartition, later turn into supernovae with colossal energy release, of the order of 10 ⁴³ -10 ⁴⁵ joules.

The density of such a star is comparable, for example, with the weight of Mount Everest, placed in a matchbox. It's hundreds of billions of tons in one cubic millimeter. For example, to make it clearer how large the density of matter, let's take our planet with its mass of 5.9 × 1024 kg and "turn" into a neutron star.

As a result, to make the density of the Earth equal to the density of the neutron star, it must be reduced to the size of an ordinary apple, with a diameter of 7-10 centimeters. The density of unique stellar objects increases with the movement toward the center.

Layers and the density of matter

The outer layer of the star is represented in the form of a magnetosphere. Directly below it, the density of matter already reaches about one ton per centimeter cubic. Given our knowledge of the Earth, at the moment, this is the heaviest of the discovered elements. But do not rush to conclusions. Let's continue our research of unique stars. They are also called pulsars, because of the high speed of rotation around their axis. This indicator for various objects ranges from several tens to hundreds of revolutions per second.

We proceed further in the study of superdense cosmic bodies. Then follows a layer that has the characteristics of the metal, but most likely it is similar in behavior and structure. The crystals are much smaller than we see in the crystalline lattice of terrestrial substances. To build a line of crystals in 1 centimeter, you need to lay out more than 10 billion elements. Density in this layer is one million times higher than in the outer layer. This is not the heaviest substance of the star. Next comes a layer rich in neutrons, whose density is a thousand times greater than the previous one.

The nucleus of a neutron star and its density

Below is the core, it is here that the density reaches its maximum - twice as high as the overlying layer. The substance of the core of the celestial body consists of all elementary particles known to physics. On this we reached the end of the journey to the core of the star in search of the heaviest substance in space.

The mission in search of unique in density substances in the universe, it would seem, is completed. But the cosmos is full of mysteries and undiscovered phenomena, stars, facts and regularities.

Black holes in the universe

It is necessary to pay attention to what is already open today. These are black holes. Perhaps, it is these mysterious objects that can be contenders for the fact that the heaviest substance in the universe is their constituent. Note that the gravity of black holes is so great that light can not leave it. According to the scientists' assumptions, the substance, tightened into the space of time space, is compacted so that there is no space between the elementary particles.

Unfortunately, beyond the horizon of events (the so-called boundary, where light and any object, under the action of gravitational forces, can not leave the black hole), our guesses and indirect assumptions based on the ejections of particle flows follow.

A number of scientists suggest that space and time are mixed behind the horizon of events. There is an opinion that they can be a "passage" to another universe. Perhaps this corresponds to the truth, although it is quite possible that beyond these limits another space opens up with completely new laws. An area where time will change "place" with space. The location of the future and the past is determined only by the choice of following. Like our choice to go to the right or left.

It is potentially permissible that in the Universe there are civilizations that have mastered time travel through black holes. Perhaps in the future people from the planet Earth will discover the secret of travel through time.