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9 Incredible Facts About Space

I'll tell you what other unusual places hide the universe

By Many A-SunPublished about a year ago 6 min read
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Galaxies

1 . There may be more than eight planets in our solar system

The solar system is the most studied part of outer space. According to the official version, it includes eight planets. There are many more of them. There are at least five "dwarfs". They are Pluto, Ceres, Noumea, Make make, and Eris. Since they are far from Earth, few people study them. In addition, according to scientists, there may be about 2,000 potential dwarf planets in our solar system. In addition, many astrophysicists acknowledge the existence of a ninth planet. It is the size of Neptune and has ten times the mass of Earth. Scientists began speculating about the existence of the mysterious Planet X as early as 2014 and obtained the first evidence in 2016 through computer simulations.

2. A planet made of graphite and diamonds

Astronomers have discovered another mysterious planet in the constellation Cancer. According to the Yale staff, it is twice the size and eight times the mass of Earth. But the main thing is that Jansen is almost entirely composed of graphite and diamonds. Moreover, the latter share accounts for a third of its substance. Forbes estimates the cost of the Earth at $2.69 million. By space standards, a huge diamond is located not far from Earth - only 40 light-years away. True, its surface temperature reaches 2,148,000 degrees. And the rotation is so fast that a year is equal to 18 Earth hours. In addition, scientists recently discovered that one side of Jansen is in a molten state, carbon lava.

Universe

3. Without the Moon, Earth's marine life would become extinct

If the Earth's moons disappear, there will likely be no global catastrophe. Once it was the main source of light in the darkness - now people know how to get rid of it. However, some major changes would occur. For example, many water sports would come to an end. The moon phase affects the waves - it "pulls" a lot of water as it passes over the surface of our planet. In addition, marine life directly related to the tides would become extinct. Without satellites, there would be no solar or lunar eclipses on Earth, and tectonic plates would shift, causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. But most importantly, the Earth's climate would no longer be the same.

4. No fragments of the Tungus meteorite have been found

The most mysterious alien of the 20th century is the Tungus meteorite, which fell on the morning of June 30, 1908, along the Tungus River in Siberia. On that day, the sky lit up with a dazzling light and the ensuing air explosion destroyed large areas of forest and knocked out the windows of houses within a 200-kilometer radius. However, neither meteorite debris, traces of the use of weapons of mass destruction, nor the wreckage of the alien spacecraft was found. According to NASA experts, the meteorite had a diameter of 75 m and exploded with a force equivalent to that of a thermonuclear bomb. By the way, after the fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, scientists found more than 100 fragments. The largest of them weighed 700 kg.

5. Silence hangs over space

The quietest place on our planet is the echoic chamber of the Or field Laboratory, which can absorb up to 99.99% of the sound. But even there, you can't hear absolute silence. It can disrupt the work of our lungs and circulatory system. Today, various studies are carried out in this laboratory and the equipment is tested. In such isolated space, NASA experts test future astronauts. There is no sound in space because there is no air. Therefore, even powerful galactic explosions occur in complete silence. Working in such conditions is very difficult: just a few minutes in a vacuum can lead to panic attacks and severe hallucinations in unprepared people.

6 NASA spacesuits cost $22 million

The space agency is running out of spacesuits. Because of this, even the first spacewalk by a team of female astronauts was canceled. It was rescheduled and held in October 2019. NASA has invested more than $ 200 million in the development of new suits, but despite this, according to the report of Inspector General Paul Martin, the department has only 11 available suits to use. They were developed in the late 1970s, and their useful lives expired in the last century. Moisture builds up in the astronauts' helmets as the suits' outdated cooling systems fail. According to NASA engineer Pablo DE Leon, each such suit weighs more than 150 kg and costs $22 million.

7. The moon leaves the Earth's orbit

The Moon is gradually moving away from our planet. Admittedly, the incidence of this is very low - 38 millimetres per year. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University have calculated that 1.5 billion years ago, an Earth day lasted about 18 hours. At that time, the moon was 44,000 kilometers closer to Earth than it is today. According to astrophysicists, the increased distance affected the rotation of the planet around its axis, as well as the climate and the length of the day. In a few billion years, the Moon's orbit will roughly double, and the day will be 870 hours longer. However, over time, they will no longer move away from each other, and the moons will once again begin to move toward the Earth, experts predict.

8. A strong gravitational field slows down time

Due to gravity, time flows differently in space. The stronger the gravitational field, the slower time will be. This phenomenon is illustrated in Christopher Nolan's movie "Star Trek". When the heroes reach the planet Miller, one hour equals seven Earth years. Returning to the ship more than three hours later, the astronauts find an already gray-haired colleague who has been waiting for their return for 23 years. Almost the same thing happens in reality. For example, for astronauts, time is a fraction of a second faster than for people on Earth. In the vicinity of the black hole, it stops almost completely.

9. wind speed on Venus is 500 km/h

Venus is similar to Earth in composition and size, but very different in appearance and surface conditions. The planet's atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid vapors heated to high temperatures and very high densities. Data from the SPIC AV spectrometer installed on the Venus Express orbital station show that in the middle layer of Venus, at an altitude of 85-100 km, there is 10,000 times less ozone than in the Earth's atmosphere. And sulfur dioxide levels vary considerably over a few days. Thanks to a study using stellar transmissions, scientists were able to determine the concentration of the main gases in Venus' atmosphere as the Spirograph followed the star as it rose and set below the planet's horizon. This distribution of ozone suggests that the gas interacts with compounds and that winds carry it from day to night in the hemisphere. And because Venus' atmosphere rotates 60 times faster than the Earth's surface, winds here can reach speeds of 500 km/h.

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About the Creator

Many A-Sun

Where your interests lie, that's where your abilities lie.

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