One graph attempts to connect every object in the universe

Phys · May 12, 2026 · 894 words · By Andy Tomaswick

The article describes a new scientific paper that introduces the 'Cohesive Object Sequence,' a graph plotting the density and mass of over 2,000 astronomical objects. It explains how this visual map connects various celestial bodies, from asteroids to black holes, and discusses the physical transitions and outliers within the data.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-graph-universe.html

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Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

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Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

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17 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 7

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verified Verified By Reference 2

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“a new paper in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific by Gabriel Steward and Matthew Hedman of the University of Idaho, attempts to do for the density and mass of all objects what the HR diagram did for the lifecycle of stars”

CORROBORATED

The claim is corroborated by multiple web search results, including a report from Universe Today and a reference to the paper on arXiv by Gabriel Steward and Matthew Hedman of the University of Idaho.

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web search NEUTRAL — But the universe is full of more than just stars, and a new paper, available in pre-print on arXiv from Gabriel Steward and Matthew Hedman of the University of Idaho, attempts to do for the density an…
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/one-graph-attempts-to…

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web search NEUTRAL — The universe is all of the galaxies – billions of them!The Hubble Space Telescope made one of the deepest images of the universe, called the Hubble Extreme Deep Field (image at the top of this article…
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/night-sky-…

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web search NEUTRAL — At the request of many, Bronnie subsequently wrote a book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, to share her story. Bronnie has had a colourful and diverse life. By applying the lessons of those nearing…
https://oceanofpdf.com/authors/bronnie-ware/pdf-epub-top-fiv…

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“Their effort, which they call the Cohesive Object Sequence, is based on a plot of the density of over 2,000 astronomical objects against their mass.”

CORROBORATED

Both the Universe Today article and the arXiv paper title/abstract confirm the 'Cohesive Object Sequence' is a plot of density against mass for over 2,000 astronomical objects.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A pre-main-sequence star (also known as a PMS star and PMS object) is a star in the stage when it has not yet reached the main sequence. Earlier in its life, the object is a protostar that grows by a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-main-sequence_star

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In mathematics, a sequence is a collection of objects possibly with repetition, that come in a specified order. Like a set, it contains members (also called elements, or terms). Unlike a set, the same…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In software engineering, a sequence diagram shows process interactions arranged in time sequence. This diagram depicts the processes and objects involved and the sequence of messages exchanged as need…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_diagram

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info

“the map covers a shocking 12 orders of magnitude.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The Universe Today article mentions the map covers a 'shocking' range, but the specific '12 orders of magnitude' figure is only explicitly linked to this narrative in the provided search snippets; the arXiv paper is cited but the snippet doesn't explicitly state the number of orders of magnitude.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a glossary of properties and concepts in category theory in mathematics, including those in topos theory. (See also Outline of category theory.) Notes on foundations: In many expositions (e.g…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_category_theory

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The long poem is a literary genre including all poetry of considerable length. Though the definition of a long poem is vague and broad, the genre includes some of the most important poetry ever writt…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_poem

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Memento is a 2000 American neo noir psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, based on the short story "Memento Mori" by his brother Jonathan Nolan, which was later publis…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_(film)

+ 3 more evidence sources

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“they only mapped 'cohesive objects,' which they define as any astronomical body that has a relatively well-defined surface resulting from the direct physical interactions of its components.”

VERIFIED

The arXiv paper explicitly defines cohesive objects as 'astronomical objects made of components in physical contact with each other,' which aligns with the claim's description of a well-defined surface resulting from physical interactions.

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web search NEUTRAL — However, an astronomical body, celestial body, or heavenly body is a single, tightly bound, contiguous physical object, while an astronomical or celestial object admits a more complex, less cohesively…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_object

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web search NEUTRAL — We have collected data on over two thousand cohesive objects—astronomical objects made of components in physical contact with each other. All of these objects share some basic parameters: mass, radius…
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/ae58d1

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web search NEUTRAL — We have collected data on over two thousand cohesive objects-astronomical objects made of components in physical contact with each other. All of these objects share some basic parameters: mass, radius…
https://arxiv.org/html/2604.06029v1

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“includes black holes, as the authors argue that the event horizon acts as a singular, well-defined physical boundary”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant Wikipedia entries about authors and category theory. No evidence from the actual paper or the Universe Today article was provided in the snippets to confirm the inclusion of black holes or the event horizon argument.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly object is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists within the universe. In astronomy, the terms…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_object

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“Using data from 2,157 objects, the team made sure their graph was grounded firmly in reality”

CORROBORATED

The Universe Today article explicitly states that the team used data from 2,157 objects.

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“That transition point is between Vesta, the largest known irregular object (4.3x10-5 Earth masses), and Saturn's moon Mimas, the smallest known spherical object (6.3x10-6 Earth masses).”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific transition point and the exact mass values for Vesta and Mimas in this context are reported by Universe Today. While Vesta and Mimas are real objects, the specific classification as 'largest known irregular' and 'smallest known spherical' in this specific mass-density context is only found in the Universe Today snippet.

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web search NEUTRAL — ^ The mass estimate is based on the assumed density of 1.2 g/cm3, and a volume of 3.5 ×106 km3 obtained from a detailed shape model in Stooke (1994).[159].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Solar_System_objects_b…

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web search NEUTRAL — That transition point is between Vesta, the largest known irregular object (4.3x10^-5 Earth masses), and Saturn’s moon Mimas, the smallest known spherical object (6.3x10^-6 Earth masses).The graph ove…
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/one-graph-attempts-to…

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web search NEUTRAL — Vesta is the second most massive body in the main asteroid belt, accounting for almost 9% of the total mass of all asteroids. Only dwarf planet Ceres is more massive in that region of rocky debris bet…
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/4-vesta/

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“Mimas is made almost entirely of water ice”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia, NASA Science, and Space.com all confirm that Mimas is composed mostly or almost entirely of water ice.

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web search NEUTRAL — Mimas is the smallest and innermost of Saturn's major moons. The surface area of Mimas is slightly less than the land area of Spain or California. The low density of Mimas, 1.15 g/cm3, indicates that …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimas

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web search NEUTRAL — It is not quite big enough to hold a round shape, so it is somewhat ovoid with dimensions of 129 x 122 x 119 miles (207 x 197 x 191 kilometers, respectively). Its low density suggests that it consists…
https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/mimas/

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web search NEUTRAL — Mimas is composed mostly of water ice and a small bit of rock. At its low surface temperature of -350 degrees Fahrenheit (-208 degrees Celsius) water is as hard as rock is here on Earth.
https://www.space.com/31417-all-hail-mimas-our-death-star-mo…

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“Vesta... is rocky and dense”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results specifically addressing the density/composition of Vesta in the context of the claim, although NASA mentions it is in a region of 'rocky debris'.

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“for volatile-rich planets, the more massive they get, the lower their density drops, inverting the trend in the graph up to that point.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the specific trend of volatile-rich planets in the Cohesive Object Sequence graph.

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“right around 100 Earth masses, the sequence switches back to a positive correlation for gas giants.”

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“brown dwarfs can fuse deuterium, at least for a while”

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“on a mass/density chart, brown dwarfs are essentially indistinguishable from super-massive gas giants.”

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“This correlates to the 'Kraft Break,' a pivotal moment in stellar physics where stars switch from being 'convective,' where their plasma moves the heat out of the core, to 'radiative,' where the heat from their internal engines radiates away as light.”

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“White dwarfs sit with much higher density than a traditional star, and actually have a positive slope relationship between their density and mass.”

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“Neutron stars... are way high on the density axis while having about the same mass as more traditional stars.”

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“all of the lower mass objects were based on data from our solar system.”

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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.

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One graph attempts to connect every object in the universe

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