Where is the southernmost active volcano on Earth? Volcanoes of the planet Where are the largest volcanoes on the world map

There are a huge number of volcanoes on the surface of our planet. They attract with their boundless strength and power, captivating with their incredible beauty.

Every year at least one of the volcanoes wakes up and destroys everything in its path, bringing death, destruction and huge material losses ahead of it. But, nevertheless, despite the fear, volcanoes attract the increased attention of hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world.

What are “volcanoes”?

Volcanoes are formations on the surface of the earth's crust where magma comes to the surface itself, forming lava, volcanic gases or rocks.

In our article we want to talk about some of the volcanoes of planet Earth.

1. Vesuvius, Italy

This is the most famous volcano in the world. And he became famous due to the fact that in 79 he razed Pompeii from the face of the earth, burying all the inhabitants under a layer of lava and ash. And in the twentieth century, he managed to destroy two entire cities - Massa and San Sebastiano.

2. Nyiragongo, Congo

Nyiragongo is considered the most dangerous volcano in Africa due to its increased volcanic activity, as well as the special chemical composition of the lava. The main danger of this volcano is lava lake in its crater itself with a constant temperature of 982 C. The lava of the volcano is very liquid and hot. And, if the force of tremors is prohibitive, then lava bursts can reach up to 30 meters in height and flow down at a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour.

3. Yellowstone, USA

This volcano is the champion among volcanoes on earth in its strength and power. It is located on the territory of Yellowstone National Park.

It is surrounded by several hot geysers. In 2002, they became hotter, and the soil began to give the first signals of an upcoming eruption. In 2006, scientists recorded a rise in soil of 4-6 centimeters per year. And also the formation of an incomprehensible relief funnel at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake.

4. Popocatepetl, Mexico

Awakened volcano funny name, located 20 km from the capital of Mexico - Mexico City. Since then, city residents have been in constant readiness to evacuate.

5. Chaiten, South America

More recently, the Chaiten volcano, dormant for 9 thousand years, decided to awaken and organize a competition for the title of the most dangerous volcano on the planet. In 2008 it began to erupt. And he still has no plans to stop. Its slopes form additional craters, which increases the emission of lava.

In 2008, a volcanic eruption was so strong that it destroyed the whole city with the same name Chaiten. More than ten thousand people had to be resettled from it. After this, they decided not to rebuild the city, since there is a constant threat of an eruption.

6. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Kilimanjaro is the most famous volcano in Africa. This giant consists of three volcanoes that tower over Tanzania and Kenya. Last eruption this fire-breathing monster was 360,000 years ago. But scientists have come to the conclusion that under its small crater, which is located 400 meters from the main peak of Kibo, there is molten lava.

In ours - we offer a unique opportunity to visit Tanzania and see the nature and culture of the black continent. After climbing the volcano, we will go on a safari through the Ngorongoro Nature Reserve, where we will see lions, giraffes, elephants and other animals in wildlife. Since the ascent will take place during our calendar winter, we will complete the journey on the beaches of the island of Zanzibar

7. Damavand Volcano, Iran

The extinct Damavand volcano is located in Iran in the Elbrus ridge. And it is considered the highest point in this country. Its height is 5604 meters above sea level. The summit was first climbed in 1837. The most favorable season for climbing is considered to be from June to November.

We will be able to see Iran - a wonderful country with a unique culture, kind, hospitable people and beautiful nature. Our goal is to climb the highest point in Iran - Damavand volcano. In addition to the mountains, we will immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of ancient Persia and find ourselves in a real fairy tale of “One Thousand and One Nights”.

Still a lot unsolved mysteries contains our solar system. One of them has been exciting the minds of astronomers and space researchers for a century and a half. Are there small planets inside the orbit of Mercury, hidden from the human eye by the radiant corona of the Sun? After all, the laws of celestial mechanics allow the presence of planets so close to the Sun.

In recent years, astronomers have been able to discover hundreds of giant planets in other star systems, similar in their characteristics to our Jupiter, Saturn or Neptune. But the distinctive feature of such giants was that these celestial bodies were very close to their central stars. The orbits of most of them could easily fit inside the orbit of Mercury. Naturally, the temperature of such planets is much higher than the temperature of the planets of our Solar System, in which nothing of the kind is observed. Therefore, these classes of gas giants were called hot Jupiters, Saturns or Neptunes, depending on their similarity to the planets of our solar system. Thus, the fact of the existence of hot giants clearly confirms the fundamental possibility of the presence of planets at very close distances to their central stars.

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History of the search for the planet Vulcan

The history of the search for small intramercurial planets dates back to the middle of the 19th century. This was the time of triumph of natural philosophy, born two centuries earlier. It seemed to scientists then that many celestial phenomena could be successfully explained if we imagined the world in which we live as a huge machine, the operation of which obeys Newton’s laws.

In 1840, François Arago, director of the Paris Observatory, proposed to the French mathematician Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier to develop a theory of the orbital motion of Mercury around the Sun. Le Verrier successfully completed this task, but it later turned out that the observational results differed significantly from theoretical calculations. In 1846, Le Verrier gained fame and respect scientific community, calculating the exact location of the planet Neptune. As they say now, Le Verrier discovered Neptune “at the tip of his pen.”

Urbain Le Verrier

After this triumph, Le Verrier returned to solving the problem of Mercury's orbital motion. The essence of the problem was that his previously developed theory of the movement of Mercury, based on Newtonian celestial mechanics, did not agree well with long-term observational results. Le Verrier's calculations could not explain the movement of the perihelion (the point of the orbit closest to the Sun) of Mercury. The perihelion displacement was 43 arcseconds per century. It was logical to assume that, as in the case of Uranus and Neptune, the discrepancy between observations and theory was caused by the existence of an as yet unknown planet located inside the orbit of Mercury. With its gravitational field, this unknown planet could cause disturbances in the movement of Mercury in its orbit. In theory, this hypothetical planet should have been so close to the Sun that it could only be noticed at the moment when it passed across the disk of the Sun or at a very short distance from our luminary during solar eclipses on Earth.

First, Le Verrier tried to find out whether the presence of asteroids, comets and cosmic dust in this region of space was the cause of the existing disturbances in the movement of Mercury. He believed that if there were enough such objects, they would form a visible ring around the Sun, similar to the rings of Saturn. However, at that time, no dense rings around the Sun were discovered (the dust ring was discovered only in 1983). All that remained was to look for the invisible planet influencing the movement of Mercury.

In 1859, Le Verrier received a letter from the amateur astronomer Lescarbo, who reported that on March 25 he observed a round dark spot similar to a planet moving across the disk of the Sun. Le Verrier immediately went to Lescarbot to personally question him about the discovered celestial body. In addition to Lescarbot's data, Le Verrier selected the results of five other observations, which, in his opinion, could not be attributed to cases of the passage of Mercury or Venus across the solar disk. Based on these six observations, he calculated the orbit of the invisible planet in 1859, which he called Vulcan .

According to his calculations, the period of revolution of Vulcan around the Sun was 19 days and 7 hours, the average distance from the Sun is approximately 0.143 astronomical units (AU), and the mass is 1/12 from the mass of Mercury. Let us remind our readers that the average distance of Mercury from the Sun is 0.387 AU. Of course, Le Verrier understood that such a small mass was not enough to cause the observed perturbations in Mercury's orbit. However, despite this, it was necessary to begin the search for the invisible planet. In 1860, a total solar eclipse was about to occur, and Le Verrier mobilized almost all astronomers in France to search for Vulcan. However, none of them were able to detect this hypothetical planet.

In 1877, Le Verrier dies without waiting for the discovery. fiery Vulcan. But during the eclipse of July 29, 1878, the ghost planet was observed by several astronomers at once. University of Michigan astronomy professor James Watson said he observed as many as two planets within the orbit of Mercury. Another astronomer, Lewis Swift, who discovered the comet named after him, also stated that he saw a luminous object similar to a planet. However, it turned out that the orbits calculated from these observations did not coincide either with each other or with the orbit once calculated by Le Verrier. Naturally, such observational results could not be taken seriously by the scientific community.

Years passed, but the observations did not bring success. Gradually, astronomers' faith in the existence of the hypothetical Vulcan began to fade. After the publication of Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity in 1916, the existence of Vulcan was no longer necessary for modern astronomy, since the disturbances in the movement of Mercury could be elegantly explained using this theory. In other words, the new theory solved the old puzzle without any need for Vulcan. The systematic search for the ghost planet was stopped, and official astronomy put an end to this matter.

Vulcanoids

What did Lescarbo, Watson, Swift and other astronomers observe? Currently, astronomical science accepts the existence of asteroids within the orbit of Mercury. Such hypothetical celestial bodies were even dubbed vulcanoids in honor of the never discovered planet Vulcan. According to theoretical calculations, such asteroids can have their orbits in a dynamically stable zone between 0.08 and 0.21 AU. from the sun. It is believed that if volcanoids exist, their diameter should not exceed 60 km, since larger objects would have been discovered earlier. Despite the fact that space telescopes now continuously monitor the Sun in various wavelength ranges, vulcanoids have not yet been discovered. The bright photosphere of the Sun brings enormous difficulties to the process of searching for asteroids. However, some astronomers are optimistic about the future because the search area is gravitationally stable. For further searches, small space-based telescopes capable of observing the circumsolar space will most likely be used.

Of course, it is possible that astronomers of the 19th century could observe the passage of comets in close proximity to the Sun during solar eclipses. A whole class of such solar comets is currently known. For example, the SOHO solar space telescope has already discovered more than 2,000 such comets. However, the nuclei of such comets are small, and detecting them using the relatively imperfect telescopes of those times was very problematic.

Despite the fact that the search for Vulcan has not yet brought any results, some scientists are still serious about solving this problem. For example, a professor of astronomy from Long Island, G. Corten, at one time reported his discovery of a new celestial body or group of bodies within the orbit of Mercury. According to him, in the photographs he took during the solar eclipses of 1966 and 1970, some mysterious traces of some celestial body are clearly visible. The professor believed that these traces could not be associated with the passage of comets near the Sun. Korten considered the gravitational influence of a small planet or asteroid with a diameter of about 300 km as the main cause of the observed disturbances in the movement of Mercury.

In November 1971, the Daily Telegraph published a sensational report that astronomers at the University of Cambridge and the Naval Observatory in Washington had allegedly discovered a new planet located between Mercury and the Sun. However, the explanation for this fact was very vague and vague. According to the newspaper, this assumption was made based on an analysis of changes in the orbits of other planets in the solar system. It is clear that the scientific community was very skeptical about such publications.

As mentioned above, in 1983, Japanese astronomers managed to discover a relatively dense ring of dust around the Sun. The radius of the ring was approximately 4 times the radius of the Sun. According to calculations, the mass of the ring was several million tons, and the temperature of the particles reached 1000 degrees.

Disputes over the existence of hypothetical intramercurial planets continue to this day. Some researchers provide their own calculation data based on the Titius-Bode relation and Kepler's 3rd law. For example, Gromov R.G. in his work “Harmony in the Solar System” showed the theoretical possibility of the existence of two small intramercurial planets. One of them should be 0.22 AU away from the Sun. and have a circulation period of 35.2 days, for the second the removal is 0.11 AU. and a period of 14.1 days. Other researchers believe that the distance of the hypothetical Vulcan from the Sun should be 0.25-0.26 AU, and the orbital period should be 19 - 50 days. Let us remind our readers that according to Le Verrier’s calculations, the average distance of Vulcan from the Sun should be equal to 0.143 AU, and the orbital period should be 19.29 days.

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At the very beginning of our essay, we already talked about the discovery in recent years of a whole class of exoplanets - hot giants. A typical hot Jupiter is usually separated from its central star by a distance of the order of 0,04 — 0,05 AU, and the circulation period is only a few days. Such huge planets could easily fit inside the orbit of Mercury. It is clear that the configuration of planetary systems in space can be very diverse, and the problem of hot Jupiters itself is still a mystery for astronomy. However, the very fact of the existence of such planets at such small distances from their stars strengthens the confidence of a number of astronomers and researchers that hypothetical intramercurial planets can still be discovered in our Solar System in the near future. It is still too early to put an end to this matter.

P.S. 11 March turned 203 anniversary of the birth of the outstanding French astronomer Urbena Le Verrier, member of the Paris Academy of Sciences, director of the Paris astronomical observatory(1854 - 1877).

Despite their deadly nature, various volcanoes have long attracted people. Previously, people were attracted by fertile soils, enriched with minerals and trace elements due to the activity of volcanoes, now tourists are attracted by the beauty and majesty of these natural sites.

Where are the largest volcanoes on the world map?

Most modern active volcanoes located in Pacific volcanic ring- the area in which it occurs greatest number eruptions and 90% of earthquakes on our planet.

The second most powerful seismic zone is the Mediterranean fold belt, which stretches from the Indonesian islands to.

The strongest eruption in history

The most destructive eruption in terms of its consequences is considered to be the catastrophe that occurred in 1883 during the explosion Krakatoa volcano located in . During this cataclysm, more than 36 thousand people died, more than 165 cities and villages were completely destroyed, and ash was released to a height of 70 kilometers.

The force of the explosion during the eruption exceeded the force of the explosion nuclear bomb over Hiroshima 10 thousand times. Most deaths are a consequence of huge tsunami caused by the eruption. The island on which Krakatoa was located was almost completely destroyed during the disaster. The sound of the explosion spread over a distance of 5 thousand kilometers from the epicenter of the disaster.

Earth's Greatest Active Volcanic Mountains

The largest active volcanoes in the world by volume:

Mauna Loa, Hawaii, with a volume of 80 thousand cubic kilometers;
Kilimanjaro(Tanzania), which is considered dormant but could potentially become active, has a volume of 4,800 cubic kilometers;
Volcano Sierra Negra, located in the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) has a volume of 580 cubic kilometers.

Which country has the largest source of lava?

In terms of size, there is no equal to the Hawaiian volcano Mauna Loa, which has a volume of 80 thousand cubic kilometers. The title of the highest is disputed by 2 volcanoes from South America:

Llullaillaco, located on the border of Argentina and Chile with an altitude of more than 6 thousand meters;
Cotopaxi, located in Ecuador with an altitude of 5897 meters.

Description with names

There are between 1000 and 1500 active volcanoes on our planet. Many of them are located near densely populated areas and pose a threat to human life. The most dangerous volcanoes, which are under special surveillance, are included in UN Decade Volcanoes list.

Merapi

Merapi, which means in Indonesian "mountain of fire", recognized as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in Asia. It is located in the south of the island of Java in Indonesia, and its peak rises to a height of 3 thousand meters.

Significant eruptions of Merapi occur at intervals of approximately 7 years; throughout its history, Merapi has repeatedly caused the death of many people. In 1930, the eruption killed 1,400 people, and in 2010 more than 350 thousand people had to be evacuated, killing 353 island residents.

Located near Merapi Yogyakarta city, in the agglomeration of which more than 2 million people live. Due to its activity and danger to human life, Merapi is included in the list of Volcanoes of the Decade.

Sakurajima

Sakurazdima Volcano (Japan) is located on Kyushu island, its peak rises to a height of 1110 meters. The first eruption recorded by chronicles occurred in 963, and the most powerful one dates back to 1914, but thanks to the tremors that preceded it, most of the local residents managed to evacuate, and “only” 35 people died.

Since the mid-20th century, the volcano has been constantly active. Happen every year thousands of small explosions and ash emissions.

In 2013, there was a large ash emission reaching a height of 4000 meters.

Sakurajima is also on the list of Volcanoes of the Decade.

Aso

Volcano Aso is also located on Kyushu island in Japan. The highest point of Aso is at an altitude of 1592 meters. During the period of observation of the volcano, about 165 large and medium eruptions occurred, many of which resulted in human casualties.

The last time people died as a result of a volcanic eruption was in 1979, when 3 people died and 11 were injured. But Aso is dangerous not only for its eruptions, poisonous volcanic gas fumes They regularly poison tourists who try to conquer Aso. The last such incident occurred in 1997, when two climbers died.

The last eruption of Aso was noted in 2011, ash emission occurred to a height of up to 2 kilometers.

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Nyiragongo

Nyiragongo is located in the territory DR Congo in the Virunga mountain system (Africa). In the crater of the volcano there is the world's largest lava lake, the depth of which can reach 3 kilometers. In 1977, the crater wall ruptured, causing a large flow of lava into the surrounding area, ultimately killing 70 people.

During observations of Nyiragongo since 1882, it was recorded 34 major volcanic eruptions. A feature of the Nyiragongo eruptions is the extremely rapid flow of lava, reaching speeds of 100 kilometers per hour. During a major eruption in 2002, 400 thousand residents of the city of Goma, located near the volcano, were evacuated. However, 147 of them died as a result of this cataclysm, and the city itself suffered significant damage.

All these factors make Nyiragongo one of the the most dangerous volcanoes on the planet, for which he was rightly included in the list of Volcanoes of the Decade.

Galeras

The Galeras volcano is located in Colombia near the city of Pasto, whose population is more than 400 thousand people. Its height exceeds 4200 meters. Due to its danger, Galeras was included in the list of Volcanoes of the Decade that pose the greatest threat in the foreseeable future.

It is believed that over the past 7,000 years, Galeras has experienced at least 6 major eruptions, the last of which was recorded in 1993.

Mauna Loa

The Mauna Loa volcano is located on Hawaiian Islands belonging to the United States of America. This giant volcano occupies more than half the area of Hawaii, the height of the peak above sea level is 4169 meters, but most of the volcano is located under water. Together with the underwater part, its height from base to top reaches 9170 meters, which exceeds the height of Everest.

Mauna Loa erupts according to what is called Hawaiian type with an outpouring of lava, but without explosions and large ash emissions. Observations of the volcano have been carried out only since 1832, but during this time 39 major eruptions of Mauna Loa have been recorded. This volcano was included in the list of Volcanoes of the Decade due to the huge lava flows accompanying the eruption and the densely populated area in its immediate vicinity.

The summit of the volcano and its slopes were included in the list World Heritage UNESCO.

Colima

The most active volcano in Central America is located in the state of Jalisco. Thanks to her activity, Colima received the nickname "little Vesuvius", its height exceeds 3800 meters.

Over the past 450 years, more than 40 large and medium-sized volcanic eruptions have been recorded, the last of which occurred on September 12, 2016. More than 400 thousand people live near Colima, making it America's most dangerous volcano. For this reason, the volcano was included in the list of Volcanoes of the Decade.

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Vesuvius

Most famous volcano of the world is located on the Apennine Peninsula in. The lonely peak of Vesuvius, 1281 meters high, rises above the vast fields of the province of Campania and is part of the Apennine mountain system.

Located just 15 kilometers from Naples, Vesuvius has repeatedly gone down in history with its catastrophic eruptions; about 80 major ones alone were recorded. In 79 AD, the most destructive eruption of Vesuvius, during which famous cities perished:

Pompeii;
Oplontis;
Herculaneum;
Stabiae.

It is believed that at least 16 thousand people died during this disaster.

The last one happened in 1944. this moment eruption of Vesuvius, cities were destroyed during this natural disaster Weight And San Sebastiano, 27 people became victims. Since then, Vesuvius has not shown much activity, but the danger of a new eruption always remains. Vesuvius is one of the main attractions of the province of Campania and a visit to it is included in sightseeing tour when traveling to Naples.

Etna

Another famous volcano in Italy is located in the east of the island of Sicily and is the highest volcano, rising to a height of 2329 meters. Etna erupts several times a year. History has recorded several major eruptions of this volcano that led to devastating consequences:

Was destroyed in 122 AD Catania city;
In 1169 during large-scale eruption Etna died 15 thousand people;
In 1669, Catania suffered again, houses were destroyed 27 thousand people;
In 1928, the ancient Maskali city.

Despite the danger of the volcano, the inhabitants of the island continue to settle on its slopes. The reason for this is fertile soil, enriched with minerals and trace elements contained in cooled lava flows and ash.

Etna is one of the main natural attractions of Sicily; tourists from all over the world come to see the volcano and climb to its top.

Popocatepetl

Volcano Popocatepetl, or El Popo as they affectionately call him local residents, is located in Mexico, 70 kilometers from the capital of this country, Mexico City. The height of the volcano is almost 5500 meters. Popocatépetl has erupted more than 15 times over the past 500 years, with the most recent one occurring as recently as 2015. An extinct volcano is located near Popocatepetl. Iztaccihuatl.

A trip to these volcanoes is an integral part excursion program when visiting Mexico City.

Klyuchevskaya Sopka

Most high volcano Eurasia is located on the Kamchatka Peninsula and is considered the most famous of the many volcanoes of Kamchatka. Highest point beyond Caucasus Mountains reaches an altitude of 4750 meters. It is the most active volcano in Eurasia, with an average of almost every year. The last significant eruption occurred in 2013, the height of the ash emission was 10-12 kilometers. The eruption was accompanied by mud flows and ashfall.

Cotopaxi

The active Cotopaxi volcano is located in South America on the territory of the state Ecuador part of the Andes mountain system. The height of the peak of Cotopaxi is 5897 meters. In the entire history of observations, 86 eruptions have been recorded, the largest of which led to the complete destruction of the city of Latacunga in 1786. The last activity of Cotopaxi was noticed in 1942, after which the volcano is still dormant.

Famous extinct giants

In addition to active volcanoes, there are many extinct volcanoes on our planet that do not exhibit volcanic activity.

Supreme

The tallest extinct volcano on the planet, Aconcagua, is located in Argentina and is part of mountain system Andes. Aconcagua is not only the highest extinct volcano in the world, but also the highest peak in the Americas, Western and Southern Hemispheres. The height of Aconcagua exceeds 6950 meters.

Sleeping giants

Many extinct volcanoes are now considered simply mountains, although some of them could potentially “wake up” and begin to become active. Such volcanoes, which may become active in the future, are called "sleeping".

Famous Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (Africa) is a dormant volcano that is not active. Scientists believe that one day Kilimanjaro may wake up, then this potential volcano will become one of the highest in the world, because the height of Kilimanjaro is 5895 meters above sea level.

Colossal supervolcano Yellowstone was considered extinct, but scientists have found that there is little activity in it, so now Yellowstone is classified as a dormant volcano. The giant last erupted almost a million years ago.

It is believed that if Yellowstone wakes up, a potential eruption will become one of the largest disasters in the history of the Earth, every third inhabitant of the planet will die, and several US states will be completely destroyed.

Yellowstone eruption will provoke many earthquakes, giant tsunami waves and other volcanic eruptions, which will affect almost every inhabitant of the planet. The ash ejected by the volcano will cover the surface of the earth from the sun for a year and a half, and a volcanic winter will occur throughout the planet.

However, not all scientists believe that the consequences of this cataclysm will be so serious. In any case, the eruption of this volcano remains one of the main potential threats to humans.

The largest extinct volcano in Russia is 5642 meters. It is located on the border of the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia. Belongs to the list highest peaks six parts of the world. Scientists consider the activity of the volcano not so much completed as fading.
The largest volcano of our time cannot be visited and is very difficult to see, since it is under water. Array Tamu located at the bottom Pacific Ocean and is located approximately 1600 kilometers east of Japanese Islands. Its dimensions are 650 by 450 kilometers; in scale, the array is one of the largest not only on Earth, but in the entire solar system. The last volcanic eruption occurred 140 million years ago.
Dormant volcanoes Big and Small Ararat are now located on the territory and belong to the category of volcanoes that do not exhibit volcanic activity. Peak Greater Ararat, reaching 5165 meters, is highest point Turkey.
One of the highest peaks of the Caucasus, Mount Kazbek is also an extinct volcano. Kazbek is located on the border with Russia, the top point of the mountain is located at an altitude of more than 5 kilometers. During research, volcanic ash from an eruption that allegedly occurred 40 thousand years ago was found in one of the Kazbek caves.

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Watch a video about these and other volcanoes in the world:

Every schoolchild knows that Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun in our solar system. However, for several decades in the 19th century, many of the world's leading scientists had good reason to believe that a planet, dubbed Vulcan, was located somewhere within the orbit of Mercury. A renowned French mathematician first proposed the existence of this phantom planet in 1859, and it remained one of the most wanted celestial objects until Albert Einstein's theory of relativity finally debunked the mystery in 1915.

In 1859, French scientist Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier began working on one of the most puzzling problems in astronomy: the orbit of Mercury. For years, astronomers have noted that this small solar system planet appears to follow its own course as it orbits the sun. In particular, its perihelion—the point when the planet is closest to the Sun—shifts slightly with each orbit. According to Sir Isaac Newton's law of gravity, this discrepancy can easily be explained by the presence of other celestial objects. However, even after Le Verrier calculated the gravitational pull of Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter, his predictions of Mercury's orbit were always slightly inaccurate. The planet never ended up where it was supposed to be.

Le Verrier hypothesis

After Le Verrier carefully checked and re-did his calculations, he proposed a novel hypothesis: some other object, unknown and unseen, was exerting a gravitational pull on Mercury's orbit. This planet, or a group of small planets circling in close proximity to the orbit of Mercury, is capable of making an anomalous impact, which is felt by the last planet. Le Verrier suggested that the glare of the sun prevented the identification of this object in the past. However, he argued that it could be easily detected under the right conditions.

Dear Astronomer

The scientific community welcomed Le Verrier's theory, and for good reason, since he already had experience searching for new planets. Thirteen years earlier, he had made a similar prediction in an attempt to explain the gravitational fluctuations in the orbit of the planet Uranus. As astronomers scanned the sky, they discovered the previously unknown planet Neptune. The discovery catapulted Le Verrier to international scientific fame and secured admission to the French Legion of Honor and the post of head of the Paris Observatory. His intelligence has been described as "almost superhuman".

"Discovery" of a new planet

Armed with a fresh prediction from the discoverer of Neptune, astronomers immediately began the hunt for a new planet. But it turned out that the breakthrough had occurred several months earlier, and was made by an amateur named Edmond Modest Lecarbol. A physician by profession, Lekarbol was also a keen stargazer who built his own makeshift observatory in the countryside. Looking through his telescope on March 26, 1859, he saw a small black dot—possibly a planet—drift across the surface of the Sun. At that time, the doctor did not tell anyone about his discovery, but after reading notes about the hypothetical planet, Le Verrier sent him a letter with a full report.

After receiving the letter, Le Verrier went to meet Lecarbol to study his equipment and notes. After this meeting, he was even more convinced that there was another planet closer to the Sun than Mercury. Le Verrier announced the discovery in early 1860. Obeying the tradition of naming planets by names mythical gods, he gave her the name Vulcan, in honor of the Roman god of blacksmithing.

Failed observation attempts

The discovery of Vulcan was a great step forward for science. Lecarbol was accepted into the Legion of Honor, and Le Verrier was once again called a genius. There was just one problem: the new planet was frustratingly difficult to detect. Scattered information about the observation of Vulcan poured in from all over the globe, but most of it was from amateur astronomers. Leverrier still required independent confirmation from a respected professional. Hoping to receive this confirmation, Le Verrier's supporters estimated that the planet would be visible in late March or early April 1860. The astronomers adjusted their telescopes, but when the appointed time arrived, Vulcan did not appear. Many soon began to wonder if this planet actually existed.

Hunt for Vulcan

Over the next few years, Vulcan became the subject of an international hunt. Many observations were made during the 1860s, but for every astronomer who claimed to have seen the planet, there were many more who tried and never found anything. The ranks of skeptics continued to grow until 1871, when a team of English astronomers failed to discover the planet for the third year in a row. The question of Vulcan has remained open since 1859, as author Thomas Levenson wrote in his book The Hunt for Vulcan. Random observations and seemingly consistent calculations fueled this interest.

In 1876, Vulcan's fate seemed to be sealed. A trained astronomer reported that he had observed the transit of a planet near the Sun, and the newspapers received a new flurry of reports from amateurs. The enthusiasm was so great that the New York Times even published an article declaring that "Vulcan's existence can no longer be denied or ignored." According to the article, the Earth should henceforth be named the fourth planet from the Sun, and children in public schools who learn the old-fashioned order of the planets should be sure to memorize Vulcan and its place in the solar system.

Fall from Olympus

Le Verrier died in 1877, but the most eventful period in Vulcan's life was yet to come. Only a year later, on July 29, 1878, a total solar eclipse occurred, which could be observed in Russia and North America. An event like this would be very convenient for observing Vulcan, and so legions of astronomers set up their telescopes and cameras in hopes of seeing it. Most gave up quickly, but two respected astronomers, James Craig Watson and Lewis Swift, claimed to have spotted the planet. Newspapers again began to trumpet the existence of Vulcan, but this triumph was short-lived. Critics said that scientists actually saw two well famous stars, and most of the scientific community rejected these observations as erroneous.

After the observations of Watson and Swift were criticized, the scientific community's faith in Vulcan virtually disappeared. This planet became the astronomy equivalent of the El Dorado myth, which most scientists abandoned, although some still continued to search for it. However, if Vulcan doesn't exist, scientists have once again begun to wonder what is causing Mercury's orbit to shift.

Resolving issues

The final answer to this question finally emerged in 1915, when Einstein dropped the scientific bombshell that was his general theory of relativity. Unlike Newton's theories of gravity, which could explain Mercury's orbit only by the existence of an unknown planet, general relativity states that a supermassive object - in this case the Sun - is capable of bending space and time and changing the path of light. Shortly before publishing his theory, Einstein applied it to Mercury and found that it perfectly explained the discrepancy in its orbit. Thus, Mercury is not attracted by any object, and it is a matter of moving through distorted time space.

As a result of Einstein's breakthrough, Vulcan was forever thrown from the astronomical sky. Astronomers erased the planet from their charts and attributed news of past sightings to the appearance of unidentified stars or sunspots. The volcano at the same time became one of the most famous dead ends in scientific history, but his “death” did not put an end to the hunt for new worlds within the solar system. In 1930, after a long search, the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered. Meanwhile, in recent years, scientists have discovered ample evidence that a hypothetical “Planet Nine” could be located somewhere on the outer edge of the Solar System.