Some Amazing Space Facts
Space is amazing. The sheer vastness of it, along with the trillions upon trillions of objects in the many billion galaxies of the universe is almost incomprehensible to the human brain.When you look up at the stars, what do you think about? That we may be not be alone? The vastness of it all?
There's a lot to wonder about space. The fact is we don't know all the answers about it. We know it's vast and beautiful , but we're not really sure how vast (or how beautiful, for that matter).
Some of the things we do know, however, are downright mind-boggling. Below, we've collected some of the most amazing facts about space, so when you look up at the stars you can be ever more wowed by what you're looking at.
1. Neutron stars can spin at a rate of 600 rotations per second
Neutron stars are one of the possible evolutionary end-points of high mass stars. They're born in a core-collapse supernova star explosion and subsequently rotate extremely rapidly as a consequence of their physics. Neutron stars can rotate up to 60 times per second after born. Under special circumstances, this rate can increase to more than 600 times per second.
The sheer size of space makes it impossible to accurately predict just how many stars we have. Right now, scientists and astronomers use the number of stars only within our galaxy, The Milky Way, to estimate. That number is between 200-400 billion stars and there are estimated to be billions of galaxies so the stars in space really are completely uncountable.
2. There is an uncountable number of stars in the known universe
The sheer size of space makes it impossible to accurately predict just how many stars we have. Right now, scientists and astronomers use the number of stars only within our galaxy, The Milky Way, to estimate. That number is between 200-400 billion stars and there are estimated to be billions of galaxies so the stars in space really are completely uncountable.
3. The Apollo astronauts' footprints on the moon will probably stay there for at least 100 million years
Since the moon doesn't have an atmosphere, there's no wind or water to erode or wash away the Apollo astronauts' mark on the moon. That means their footprints, roverprints, spaceship prints, and discarded materials will stay preserved on the moon for a very long time.They won't stay on there forever, though. The moon still a dynamic environment. It's actually being constantly bombarded with "micrometeorites," which means that erosion is still happening on the moon, just very slowly.
4. One day on Venus is longer than one year on Earth
Venus has an extremely slow axis rotation that takes about 243 Earth days to complete one full cycle. Funny enough, it takes Venus even less time in Earth days in order to complete one revolution around the sun — 226 to be exact.
Titan also nitrogen-rich compounds known as tholins. This gives Titan its distinctive orange color. Titan's atmosphere is so thick that radar is needed to penetrate a spacecraft's view down to the surface.
Furthermore, the sun rises every 117 Earth days, which means that the sun will rise only two times during each year, which is also all technically in the same day. Since Venus also rotates clockwise, the sun will rise in the west and set in the east.
5.There is a Planet Made entirely out of diamonds
As space facts go, this is pretty impressive. Research by Yale University scientists suggests that a rocky planet called 55 Cancri e — which has a radius twice Earth’s, and a mass eight times greater – may have a surface made up of graphite and diamond. It’s 40 light years away but visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Cancer.
6.In 3.5 Billion years The Milky way and The Andromeda galaxies will collide.
Another weird moon in Saturn's system is Titan, which hosts a liquid "cycle" that moves between the atmosphere and the surface. That sounds a lot like Earth, until you begin looking at its environment. It has lakes filled with methane and ethane, which could be reminiscent of the chemistry that occurred on Earth before life arose.
The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way – where our solar system is – at rate of around 110 kilometers per second (68 mi/s) and eventually the two will collide to form a giant elliptical galaxy.The stars involved are sufficiently far apart that it is improbable that any of them will individually collide.Some stars will be ejected from the resulting galaxy,nicknamed Milkomeda or Milkdromeda.
7. Man-made Spacecrafts have visited every planet in our solar system
We've been exploring space for more than 60 years, and have been lucky enough to get close-up pictures of dozens of celestial objects. Most notably, we've sent spacecraft to all of the planets in our solar system — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — as well as two dwarf planets, Pluto and Ceres.
The bulk of the flybys came from NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft, which left Earth in 1977 and are still transmitting data from beyond the solar system in interstellar space. Between them, the Voyagers clocked visits to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, thanks to an opportune alignment of the outer planets.
8. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is shrinking
Along with being the solar system's largest planet, Jupiter also hosts the solar system's largest storm. Known as the Great Red Spot (since it's big and ruddy-colored), it's been observed in telescopes since the 1600s.
Nobody knows exactly why the storm has been raging for centuries, but in recent decades another mystery emerged: the spot is getting smaller.In 2014, the storm was only 10,250 miles (16,500 km) across, about half of what was measured historically.
The shrinkage is being monitored in professional telescopes and also by amateurs, as telescope and computer technology allow high-powered photographs at an affordable cost.
9. There may be a huge planet at the edge of the solar system
In January 2015, California Institute of Technology astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown announced – based on mathematical calculations and on simulations – that there could be a giant planet lurking far beyond Neptune. Several teams are now on the search for this theoretical "Planet Nine," which could take decades to find (if it's actually out there.)
This large object, if it exists, could help explain the movements of some objects in the Kuiper Belt, an icy collection of objects beyond Neptune's orbit. Brown has already discovered several large objects in that area that in some cases rivaled or exceeded the size of Pluto. (His discoveries were one of the catalysts for changing Pluto's status from planet to dwarf planet in 2006.)
10. Titan has a liquid cycle, but it's definitely not water
Titan also nitrogen-rich compounds known as tholins. This gives Titan its distinctive orange color. Titan's atmosphere is so thick that radar is needed to penetrate a spacecraft's view down to the surface.
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