Opmmur
Time Travel Professor
10 Fascinating Astronomy Facts
30 June, 2012
Our Universe is full of wonders and powerful forces. When we study astronomy we always learn amazing, and very interesting facts. Some of them are strange indeed.
Here is a list of some remarkable and fascinating astronomy facts.
You may know some of these fact already, but a couple of them can be a real surprise!
1. Your weight on other planets is not the same
Image credit: NASA
As you know different planets have different gravities, which mean that an astronaut's weight will change from planet to planet. For example, an astronaut weighing 75 kilos on Earth would weigh only 28 kilos on Mars, but 177 kilos on Jupiter.
2. Crossing the Milky Way takes a very long time, even if you try to do it fast!
Milky Way. Image credit: NASA
We all know that our galaxy, the Milky Way is vast, but have you ever considered just how big it is?
Just imagine that if you could travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) it would take 100,000 years to cross our galaxy!
3. We are seeing the past!
Galaxy Centaurus A Credit: Hubble Space Telescope
Light from distant stars and galaxies takes so long to reach us, that we are actually seeing objects as they appeared hundreds, thousands or even millions of years ago. So, as we look up at the sky, we are really looking back in time.
This explains why for example, the Pillars of Creation are gone.
4. The dark and cold side of Mercury
Mercury. Image credit: NASA
Even though Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, temperatures can reach -280 degrees F. You might fins this a little stragne, but there is a simple explanation. Since Mercury has almost no atmosphere, there is nothing to trap heat near the surface. So, the dark side of Mercury (the side facing away from the Sun) is very cold.
5. Long-lasting storm in our solar system
Jupiter's Great Red Spot Image credit: NASA
On Jupiter, storms can rage for years or even centuries. The Great Red Spot, a colossal storm twice the diameter of our planet, has lasted at least 300 years.
The Great Red Spot is so big that dozens of Earths would fit into it. Read more about Jupiter's storm here
6. The incredible number of stars in the Universe
The nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 1569 is a 'hotbed' of vigorous star birth activity which blows huge bubbles and super-bubbles that riddle the main body of the galaxy. The galaxy's vigorous 'star factories' are also manufacturing brilliant blue star clusters. Credits: ESA, NASA and Peter Anders (Göttingen University Galaxy Evolution Group, Germany)
Its estimated that the number of stars in the universe is greater than the number of grains of sand on all the beaches in the world! On a clear night, we can see the equivalent of a handful of sand.
Even on the clearest night, the human eye can only see about 3,000 stars. There are an estimated 100,000,000,000 in our galaxy alone!
7. Our powerful Sun
On this image you can see how small Earth is when compared to the Sun. Image credit: NASA
The Sun produces so much energy, that every second the core releases the equivalent of 100 billion nuclear bombs. Still, our Sun is relatively small compared to other stars.
8. Betelgeuse - A new supernova will be born soon
An artist's impression of the supergiant star. Image credit & copyright: ESO
Betelgeuse is the tenth brightest star in the sky. It is a red supergiant about 13,000 times brighter than our sun and over 1000 times larger.
If you placed Betelgeuse in the place of our Sun, it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter!
Its name is from the Arabic armpit, and is near the right shoulder of Orion. It is nearing the end of its life and will soon become a supernova. Betelgeuse is in the constellation Orion.
9. Volcanoes on Jupiter's moon
Volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io. Image credit: NASA
Volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon eject materials at speeds of 1km every second. This is 20 times the speed of what the volcanoes on Earth achieve.
10. Saturn's low density
Saturn Imagce credit: NASA
Saturn has such a low density that if you placed it on a planet bigger than Saturn which is full of water with gravity it would literally float.
30 June, 2012
Our Universe is full of wonders and powerful forces. When we study astronomy we always learn amazing, and very interesting facts. Some of them are strange indeed.
Here is a list of some remarkable and fascinating astronomy facts.
You may know some of these fact already, but a couple of them can be a real surprise!
1. Your weight on other planets is not the same
Image credit: NASA
As you know different planets have different gravities, which mean that an astronaut's weight will change from planet to planet. For example, an astronaut weighing 75 kilos on Earth would weigh only 28 kilos on Mars, but 177 kilos on Jupiter.
2. Crossing the Milky Way takes a very long time, even if you try to do it fast!
Milky Way. Image credit: NASA
We all know that our galaxy, the Milky Way is vast, but have you ever considered just how big it is?
Just imagine that if you could travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) it would take 100,000 years to cross our galaxy!
3. We are seeing the past!
Galaxy Centaurus A Credit: Hubble Space Telescope
Light from distant stars and galaxies takes so long to reach us, that we are actually seeing objects as they appeared hundreds, thousands or even millions of years ago. So, as we look up at the sky, we are really looking back in time.
This explains why for example, the Pillars of Creation are gone.
4. The dark and cold side of Mercury
Mercury. Image credit: NASA
Even though Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, temperatures can reach -280 degrees F. You might fins this a little stragne, but there is a simple explanation. Since Mercury has almost no atmosphere, there is nothing to trap heat near the surface. So, the dark side of Mercury (the side facing away from the Sun) is very cold.
5. Long-lasting storm in our solar system
Jupiter's Great Red Spot Image credit: NASA
On Jupiter, storms can rage for years or even centuries. The Great Red Spot, a colossal storm twice the diameter of our planet, has lasted at least 300 years.
The Great Red Spot is so big that dozens of Earths would fit into it. Read more about Jupiter's storm here
6. The incredible number of stars in the Universe
The nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 1569 is a 'hotbed' of vigorous star birth activity which blows huge bubbles and super-bubbles that riddle the main body of the galaxy. The galaxy's vigorous 'star factories' are also manufacturing brilliant blue star clusters. Credits: ESA, NASA and Peter Anders (Göttingen University Galaxy Evolution Group, Germany)
Its estimated that the number of stars in the universe is greater than the number of grains of sand on all the beaches in the world! On a clear night, we can see the equivalent of a handful of sand.
Even on the clearest night, the human eye can only see about 3,000 stars. There are an estimated 100,000,000,000 in our galaxy alone!
7. Our powerful Sun
On this image you can see how small Earth is when compared to the Sun. Image credit: NASA
The Sun produces so much energy, that every second the core releases the equivalent of 100 billion nuclear bombs. Still, our Sun is relatively small compared to other stars.
8. Betelgeuse - A new supernova will be born soon
An artist's impression of the supergiant star. Image credit & copyright: ESO
Betelgeuse is the tenth brightest star in the sky. It is a red supergiant about 13,000 times brighter than our sun and over 1000 times larger.
If you placed Betelgeuse in the place of our Sun, it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter!
Its name is from the Arabic armpit, and is near the right shoulder of Orion. It is nearing the end of its life and will soon become a supernova. Betelgeuse is in the constellation Orion.
9. Volcanoes on Jupiter's moon
Volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io. Image credit: NASA
Volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon eject materials at speeds of 1km every second. This is 20 times the speed of what the volcanoes on Earth achieve.
10. Saturn's low density
Saturn Imagce credit: NASA
Saturn has such a low density that if you placed it on a planet bigger than Saturn which is full of water with gravity it would literally float.
