10 Ways The Universe Could Kill Us All Tomorrow If It Wanted To

9. A Magnetar

It might sound like a terrible villain from some forgotten comic series, but a magnetar is probably one of the scariest things in the whole universe. When a star dies it can sometimes leave behind something called a neutron star, and these things are pretty terrible. Sometimes though, if the star was big enough, it leaves behind a magnetar instead, which is so much worse. As well as the aforementioned Gamma Rays, they spew out all number of other forms of radiation and energy across huge distances. The ripples of one tore through our solar system in the late 70s, leaving a few ruined satellites in its wake. Naturally, scientists didn't know a thing about it until after it had happened. Since then about 21 other magnetars have been discovered in our immediate part of space, and they're all liable to snuff us out in the blink of an eye.