Question: What is the most powerful thing in the universe? BlackHole? Neutron Star? Super Nova? Something I have never heard of?

Miranda Jackson answered on 15 Jun 2015:

It is difficult to answer this, because the term “most powerful” could mean a lot of different things. Black holes certainly have the highest gravitational fields, but supernovas release a lot of energy but last for only a short time.

In the universe, if we take into account the highest fraction of energy contained in one component, dark energy accounts for around 68% of the total energy. Dark matter (stuff we can’t see or detect, but we know it’s there because of its gravitational attraction) accounts for around 27% of the total energy. Normal matter, including stars, gas, dust, planets, and ourselves, accounts for only the small remaining fraction of the total energy in the universe. Therefore, perhaps that makes dark energy the most powerful thing in the universe. Dark energy may be causing the whole universe to expand faster and faster as time goes on.