The Richest Places In The Universe

The riches of the cosmos

For centuries, humans have valued precious metals and gemstones, both for their aesthetic value and real world utility.

They're also coveted because of their relative scarcity on Earth.

Despite the rarity of these elements on our planet, there are places in the known universe where these stones and jewels are considerably more abundant.

Many have speculated that humans could eventually tap the resources of space, from rare earth elements on the moon, to exploiting near-earth asteroids and comets that could reduce the cost and time involved for future missions to deep space.

However, the current technologies prohibit the retrieval of these extraterrestrial resources, which have often only been observed through deep space telescopes and spectroscopy techniques.

Although human understanding of the Universe is limited on a level detailed enough to identify exact compositions of heavenly bodies, some studies have revealed promising results, pointing to vast riches of other worlds.

So, where are some of the richest known places in the Universe?

Click ahead to find out.

Also see

Highest-Grossing Space Movies

NASA's Starring Role in Hollywood

Boeing's Most Famous Models

By Paul Toscano