The farthest distance humans have reached from Earth is just beyond the moon, about 400,000 kilometers, or 1.3 seconds at the speed of light. The edge of the observable universe is 46.5 billion light years away.
Our understanding of the vast expanse of the universe is probably still in its infancy. But thanks to powerful telescopes and some inspired theories, we already know a lot about how the universe works and what it contains.
Below is a concise guide to everything we know about the universe, from stars, planets, and moons to galaxy clusters, dark energy, and more. You can discover the universe’s largest stars, including possible (but probably not), supermassive black holes, the universe’s first light, and the cosmic web.
In other words, you will learn more about the incredible variety of objects and phenomena in the universe than you do now.
Navigating the Cosmic Inventory
planets and planetary systems
We start closer to home. Given the vastness of the universe and the number of stars it contains, it would take a long time to believe that our solar system, with its eight planets in regular rows, is the only such collection of worlds in our galaxy. You have to look weird. But it is only in the last 30 years that telescopes have been able to see planets orbiting other stars, known as exoplanets.we now have Found over 5000 of themand …
