Unusual facts about space. Little known facts about space

Interesting facts about space, as a rule, attract a lot of readers around the world. The secrets and mysteries of the Universe cannot but excite our imagination. What is hiding there, high, high in the sky? Is there life on other planets? How long does it take to get to a neighboring galaxy?

Agree, everyone wants answers to these questions, regardless of age, gender or, say, social status. This article will tell you about the most interesting facts about space and astronauts. Readers will learn a lot of new things about what they did not know before.

Section 1. The tenth planet of the solar system

In 2003, another tenth planet was discovered behind Pluto, orbiting the Sun. They named her Eris. This became possible thanks to the development of modern technologies; several decades ago, scientists did not know about such interesting facts about space and planets. Later, it was also possible to determine that beyond Pluto there are other natural ones, which, according to the decision of specialists, together with Pluto and Eris, began to be called transplutonian.

The interest of scientists in the newly discovered planets is determined not only by the desire for space in close proximity (by space standards) to the planet Earth. It is very important to determine whether the new planet can accept people if necessary. It is also important to assess what dangers the new object poses for the continuation of life on Earth.

Some space researchers believe that interesting facts about space in general and the study of the features of the tenth planet in particular can help in solving the mysteries associated with unidentified flying objects, the presence of grandiose structures on the earth's surface, and giant crop circles that have not found a real explanation.

Section 2. The mysterious companion of the Moon

Does the Moon, well known to all earthlings, keep many secrets? Indeed, the most interesting facts about space indicate that the satellite of the planet Earth is fraught with a lot of mystery. Here are just a few of the questions to which there are no answers yet.

Why is the moon so large? There are no more natural satellites in the solar system comparable in size to the moon - it is only 4 times smaller than our home planet!
How can one explain the fact that the diameter of the Moon's disk during a total eclipse perfectly covers the Sun's disk?
Why does the moon rotate in an almost perfect circular orbit? This is very difficult to explain, especially if we keep in mind that the orbits of all other natural satellites known to science are ellipses.

Section 3. Where is the twin of the Earth

Scientists say that the Earth has a twin. It turns out that Titan, which is a satellite of Saturn, is very similar to our home planet. Titan has seas, volcanoes and a dense air shell! Nitrogen in Titan's atmosphere is exactly the same percentage as on Earth - 75%! This is an amazing similarity, which, of course, requires a scientific explanation.

Section 4. Mystery of the Red Planet

Mars is known to be the red planet of the solar system. Conditions suitable for life - the composition of the atmosphere, the possibility of the presence of water bodies, temperature - all this indicates that the search for living beings on this planet, at least in a primitive form, is not promising.

It has even been confirmed by science that there are lichens and mosses on Mars. This means that the simplest forms of complex organisms exist on this celestial body. However, progress in its study is very difficult. Perhaps the main problematic factor is a large natural obstacle to the direct study of this planet - astronaut flights are still very limited due to the imperfection of technology.

Section 5. Why the flights to the Moon stopped

Many interesting facts about space flight are related to our natural satellite. The Americans have landed on the Moon, Russian and Eastern experts are exploring it. However, mysteries still remain.

After a successful flight to the moon and landing on its surface (if, of course, these facts really took place!) the program for studying the natural satellite was practically curtailed. This turn of events is puzzling. Indeed, what is the matter?

Perhaps some understanding of this problem comes, given the statement of an American who visited the moon, that it is already occupied by a form of life in the struggle against which mankind has no chance to survive. Unfortunately, the general public knows almost nothing about what scientists actually know.

Despite the fact that the flights of spacecraft with astronauts to the Moon have ceased, the secrets of this extraordinary satellite invariably attract the attention of researchers on Earth. The unknown has an attractive power, especially if the object is in immediate, by cosmic standards, proximity.

Section 6. Space toilet

It is a very difficult task to create life support systems that function effectively in weightlessness. The sewerage system must operate uninterruptedly, ensuring the storage of biowaste and their timely unloading in the normal mode.

When launching the ship and going into space, there is nothing left but to use special diapers. These funds allow you to provide temporary, but very tangible comfort.

Interesting facts about the first manned flight into space indicate that initially the creation of plumbing fixtures for astronauts was of great importance. Particular attention was paid to the individual anatomical features of the crew members. At present, the approach to equipping the sanitary zone of the spacecraft has become more universal.

Section 7. Superstitions on board

It should be noted that interesting facts about space and astronauts cannot but affect such everyday moments for ordinary life as, for example, traditions and beliefs.

Many say that astronauts are very superstitious people. For many, this statement will cause bewilderment. Is it really so? In fact, the astronauts behave in such a way that it seems that they are very suspicious people. Be sure to take a branch of wormwood into the flight, the smell of which reminds of the native Earth. At the start of Russian spacecraft, the song "Earth in the porthole" is always played.

Starts on Monday Sergey Korolev did not like and even postponed the launch to another date, despite conflicts about this. He did not give clear explanations to anyone. When the cosmonauts nevertheless began to launch on Monday, by a fatal coincidence, a series of accidents occurred (!).

October 24 is a special date associated with the tragic events at Baikonur (the explosion of a ballistic missile in 1960), therefore, as a rule, work is no longer being carried out at the cosmodrome on this day.

Section 8. Unknown interesting facts about space and Russian cosmonautics

The history of the development of Russian cosmonautics is a bright series of events. It is remarkable that scientists, designers and engineers managed to achieve success. But, unfortunately, there were also tragedies. Space exploration is an extremely complex area associated with work in extreme conditions.

For those who greatly value the history of space exploration, information about significant achievements in the development of the space industry, and seemingly small, and even worthless facts, is dear.

How many people know that the monument to Yuri Gagarin in Star City has one interesting feature - a camomile is squeezed in the right hand of the first cosmonaut?
Surprisingly, the first living beings who went on a space journey were turtles, and not dogs at all, as is commonly believed.
In order to mislead the enemy, in the 50s of the 20th century, 2 spaceports were built - a wooden imitation and a real structure, the distance between which was 300 km.

Section 9. Fun discoveries and interesting facts about space for children and adults

Discoveries in the space industry that have become public knowledge are sometimes funny, despite the real scientific value.

Saturn is a very light planet. If we imagine that it is possible to conduct an experiment with its immersion in water, then it will be possible to observe how this amazing planet will float on the surface.
The size of Jupiter is such that all the planets that revolve in their orbits around the Sun can be “placed” inside this planet.
A little-known fact - the first star catalog was compiled by the scientist Hipparchus in 150 BC, very far from us.
Since 1980, Lunar Embassy has been selling parts of the lunar surface - by now, 7% of the lunar surface has already been sold (!).
American researchers have spent millions of dollars to invent a fountain pen that can be used to write in zero gravity (Russian cosmonauts use a pencil to write in a spaceship in flight, and there are no problems).

10 Most Unusual NASA Claims

At the NASA center, one could repeatedly hear statements that were perceived as unusual and surprising.

Outside of Earth's gravity, astronauts suffer from "space sickness", the symptoms of which are pain and nausea due to the distorted functioning of the inner ear.
The fluid in the astronaut's body tends to the head, so there is a blockage of the nose, and the face becomes puffy.
The growth of a person in space becomes greater, as the pressure on the spine decreases.
A person snoring in earthly conditions in weightlessness does not make any sounds in a dream!

We still know very little about the vast universe in which we live. Check out our list of 25 space mysteries that will make you think.
Space contains all sorts of dangers, from deadly radiation to exploding superstars.
However, humanity is determined to go out and explore space, so to make sure we know exactly what we're aiming for, here are 25 space facts that will amaze you.

speed of light

Everyone likes to imagine themselves flying through the galaxy at the speed of light, at about 299,792,458 meters per second; however, the reality may be less funny and much more fatal. Upon contact with an object moving at the speed of light, hydrogen atoms turn into highly radioactive particles that can easily destroy the crew of a starship and destroy electronics in a matter of seconds. Even a few wandering bubbles of hydrogen gas floating in space can have a radioactive output equivalent to a beam of protons produced by the Large Hadron Collider.

Moon

Every year, our moon is about 400,000 km from the Earth, and this may seem unimportant at first, it can have devastating consequences for our planet in the future. Although the Earth's gravitational field should be sufficient for the moon to spin freely in space, the increasing distance between it and the Earth will eventually slow our planet's rotation to the point that one day takes more than a month, and our oceans do not there will be tides..

Black holes

Black holes, typically formed by the death of massive stars, are superdense regions of space with such a strong gravitational pull that they trap light and time. Just a small black hole in our solar system would throw the planets out of orbit and tear our sun apart. This in itself is not terrible, but black holes can race across the galaxy at a speed of several million miles per second, leaving traces of destruction in their path.

Gamma radiation

The most powerful type of explosion in the universe, gamma-ray bursts are intense, high-frequency bursts of electromagnetic radiation that carry as much energy in milliseconds as our sun would emit over its lifetime. If one of these rays hit the Earth, it could strip the atmosphere of ozone in a matter of seconds, and some scientists believe that gamma rays are the cause of mass extinctions 440 million years ago on Earth.

Zero gravity

Scientifically, microgravity occurs when an object is in free fall and appears weightless. While it may seem fun to float around like astronauts, prolonged periods of time in the absence of gravity leads to long-term mental and physical damage to a person.

Cold welding

Here on Earth, gases in the atmosphere react with metals to create a thin layer of oxidation. However, the vacuum of space has no atmosphere and therefore does not cause oxidation on metals, leading to an interesting reaction. This reaction is called cold welding, and it happens when two metals of the same molecular composition are pressed together and gradually fuse together as if they were one. Although this may sound strange, it caused a lot of problems on the first satellites and complicated repairs in space.

extraterrestrial life

The universe is massive and incredibly old, so the chances of other planets similar to the evolution of the Earth are unlikely. According to the Fermi paradox, the high probability of extraterrestrial life in space is contradicted by the lack of clear evidence to support it. At this point, we're not sure which is scarier; the fact that we cannot be alone in the universe or the possibility that we are.

Rogue planets

Launched into space after the formation of their planetary system, these planets are bodies that can move freely through space, crashing into everything they meet on the way. Since they do not orbit the Sun, these planets have low surface temperatures. However, due to their molten cores and icy insulation, some scientists theorize that these free planets may contain massive subterranean oceans that support life.

Travels

In 1969, it took the Third Lunar Module Apollo 11 3 days to land on Earth's natural satellite, the Moon. Since then, our technology has grown rapidly; We could expect to get to Mars in 7-9 months, and it will take about 10 years to get to Pluto. Distances outside our solar system are becoming even more extreme; even traveling at the speed of light, it would take us over 4 years to get to the nearest star, Alpha Centurion, and over 100,000 years to get to the galactic center of the Milky Way.

extreme temperatures

Depending on where you are in space, you will most likely find yourself in extreme conditions. The heat emitted by a supernova can reach temperatures of 50 million degrees Celsius or more, five times the temperature of a nuclear explosion. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the cosmic background temperature of space measures minus 270 degrees Celsius, slightly warmer than absolute zero. You definitely don't want to forget your jacket.

Darkness

Fear of the dark is not just a fear that children experience; it is an evolutionary trait created by humans to protect against the dangers lurking in the unknown. The only reason adults today aren't afraid of what they can't see is because they've learned from experience that there's very little chance of monsters lurking under the bed. However, in space, darkness is a completely unexplored void that goes on indefinitely, so for fear of the dangers that lurk beyond our sight, this is an understandable reaction.

magnetars

Magnetars are incredibly dense neutron stars. In fact, they are basically a whole star squashed into a sphere only 15 miles in diameter. One teaspoon of magnetar contains the same mass as the 900 great pyramids of Giza. They are also hosts to the strongest magnetic fields in our universe, fields so strong that anything that gets too close is torn apart at the atomic level.

Musculoskeletal atrophy

Astronauts visiting the International Space Station show signs of significant muscle atrophy after just six weeks in space.

Venus

Despite taking its name from the Roman goddess of love, Venus is arguably the most hellish planet in our solar system. With surface temperatures around 500 degrees Celsius, atmospheric pressure is 90 times that of Earth, and constant sulfuric acid rain just landing on Venus will kill you in minutes. This is definitely not a planet you would like to have a picnic on.

Dark Matter / Dark Energy

We know very little about our universe. In fact, we've only seen less than 5% of the material it's made from. The other 95% are dark matter and dark energy. About a quarter of the universe is made up of dark matter, a mass that we cannot see or find. The rest of the universe is dark energy, the true nature of which is mostly unknown. However, we are sure that this plays a decisive role in the expansion of the Universe.

Source Radiation

Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field protect us from some really nasty things, namely radiation. Cosmic rays, solar winds and electromagnetic particles permeate the universe, so much so that astronauts traveling between Earth and Mars will receive whole body radiation exposure for 5-6 days. Those who do not succumb to the effects of radiation sickness before reaching their goal will almost certainly get cancer for the rest of their lives.

Expanding Sun

Our Sun constantly uses nuclear fusion to fuse hydrogen and helium together for burning; however, its hydrogen is not infinite, and as it depletes, the Sun will get hotter and hotter. Eventually, it will become so hot that the Earth's atmosphere will be burned, and our oceans will boil and evaporate completely. Then, once all of the Sun's hydrogen is gone, it will expand into a red giant and engulf the Earth once and for all.

hypernovae

With 100 times more energy than a standard supernova, hypernovae are powerful explosions that occur after the death of a massive star. While the factors that cause a hypern star to form are widely disputed, we do know that the result is often a black hole or neutron star. Hypernovae are also the source of bursts of gamma-ray bursts in the universe, and they are bright enough to be seen by telescopes millions of light-years away.

Electromagnetic vibrations

Space is an almost perfect vacuum, which means you can count on your ears not picking up sound during your time in outer space. While the thought of complete silence may be insane in itself, don't believe that just because you can't hear anything, there's no sound. Due to the lack of gases to move them, sound waves are absent in space, but sounds are still transmitted through space using electromagnetic vibrations. NASA recorded some of these vibrations from celestial bodies in our solar system and played them back, resulting in some really terrible sci-fi sounds.

Anything can kill you

There is no room for error in space; even the smallest mistake can kill you. Of the 430 people sent into space, 18 never return home. Today's improvements in spaceflight make it much safer than before. In the 1970s, almost 30% of the people who flew into space died; however, the farthest of our journeys is the moon. A trip to Mars would increase the risk tenfold.

Time distribution

Imagine that an astronaut is traveling through space at a speed close to the speed of light. Now imagine a person standing on the ground. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, an astronaut will experience time much more slowly than a stationary person. When the astronaut finally returns home, even if he has been on earth for many years, since since he left, he will only be a fraction of that time. This is called time dilation, and while we have yet to develop the technology to move people fast enough to notice its effects, we have seen examples of it when studying high-speed particles in the lab.

Stars with hyperspeed

Believed to be the result of a close encounter with a black hole, hypervelocity stars are stars that have been ejected from their systems and sent into intergalactic space at speeds up to 2 million miles per hour. While most of the hypervelocity stars we've identified so far are the same size and mass as the Sun, they could theoretically be any size and reach even more incredible speeds.

solar flares

Despite the occasional sunburn, our Sun has given us warmth and light for billions of years. However, don't let our local star fool you. Our Sun is a huge incandescent plasma that can make massive bursts of solar radiation at random. While they are unlikely to directly threaten life on Earth, these solar flares can create electromagnetic pulses that destroy power grids, interfere with radio communications, and invalidate technology.

Depressurization

Obviously, there is no air in space; however, this means more danger than just holding your breath for a long time. The human body is adapted to the atmospheric pressure on Earth, so when you go up in an airplane or travel on mountain roads, ear problems arise. There is no air pressure in a vacuum space. Within seconds of leaving your spaceship, all the water in your body will boil and evaporate, expanding rapidly until you burst like an overflowing balloon.

Big Bang: contraction or expansion?

Everything must come to an end, but will there be an end to everything? Scientists agree that this is likely to be the ultimate end of the universe, but how that will happen is still uncertain. One of the prevailing theories says that there will come a point at which the gravitational forces in the universe will reach their limit and cause the entire universe to stop expanding and begin to contract, gradually converging to an infinitesimal point, and then completely disappear. Another theory, known as the big bang theory, claims that the universe will expand to such an extent that gravity loses all meaning and the cosmos literally falls apart; even the particles in atoms eventually drift apart. We honestly can't decide which is more scary.

On January 27, 1967, an international document was signed that formed the basis of space law and declared Space to be the property of all mankind. And for this day, we have prepared for you a selection of the most amazing facts about the Universe.

1. A day on the planet Venus lasts longer than a year. And all because this planet rotates around the Sun noticeably faster than around its own axis.

2. In space, it is much easier to hide emotions, because due to the lack of gravity, it is simply physically impossible to cry there.

3. There is no wind on the Moon, so any trace left there will last for centuries and even millennia.

4. The larger the planet, the stronger the force of gravity acts on it. So if on Earth a person weighs 60 kilograms, then on Jupiter (whose radius is more than 10 times the radius of the Earth), his weight would already be 142 kilograms.

5. The density of Saturn is almost half that of water. It turns out that if such a huge glass of water could be found, Saturn would float on its surface.

6. If you connect two metal parts in space, they will instantly weld to each other. On Earth, this is hindered by oxides that form on the surface of metals under the influence of our atmosphere.

7. Every year, the Moon moves away from the Earth by almost four centimeters.

8. Due to the absence of an atmosphere, all shadows on the moon are completely black.

9. Anyone who is sure that there is nothing of value in the outer space surrounding our planet should change their minds. In 2011, scientists discovered the planet PSR J1719-1438 b, almost entirely composed of diamond.

10. Lightning often occurs in space; scientists observe them on Mars and Saturn. In most cases, black holes are to blame for their appearance.

11. Everyone knows that shooting stars visible from the Earth are actually meteors burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. But the stars themselves can also move, just very, very rarely; this happens to only one heavenly body out of a hundred million.

12. The water found on Mars is heavier than Earth's: it contains five times more deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen with an extra neutron.

13. It has been proven that there is no magnetic field on the Moon. However, the stones brought by the astronauts from the satellite had magnetic properties.

14. If even a tiny amount of solar matter (for example, the size of a pinhead) hit the Earth, it would absorb oxygen at such an incredible rate that it would destroy all life within a radius of 160 kilometers in less than a second!

15. The largest volcano known to mankind is located on Mars. The giant named "Olympus" has a length of more than 600 kilometers, and its height is 27 kilometers. And this means that it is three times higher than the highest point on earth - Mount Everest.

16. Warming and giving us life, solar energy originated in the solar core as early as 30,000 years ago. She spent all these years trying to overcome the superdense shell of the heavenly body.

17. Venus is the only planet in the solar system that rotates counterclockwise.

18. The official scientific theory claims that a person is able to survive in outer space without a spacesuit for as much as ninety seconds, but only if all the air is immediately exhaled from the lungs.

19. Scientists from Harvard University have proven that some of the earth's rocks are of Martian origin. True, a very small part: only 0.67 percent.

20. Earth's gravity makes us lower: in outer space, the human spine "unclenches" by more than five centimeters.

Man managed to overcome the force of gravity and escape into outer space, modern telescopes allow scientists to look even into neighboring universes, but at the same time, space still holds many mysteries. And, it would seem, sufficiently studied issues are known not to all earthlings. In our review, there are very interesting facts about extraterrestrial space.

1. The taste of food in space changes

Astronauts who go into orbit have completely changed food preferences. For example, International Space Station astronaut Peggy Whitson said that her favorite food on Earth, shrimp, is simply disgusting to her in space.

2. Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse is a red star that is so huge that its diameter is larger than the diameter of the Earth's entire orbit around the Sun.

3. The danger of space debris

The risk of serious injury due to a piece of space debris falling from orbit is 1 in 100 billion.

4. Celestial bodies in the solar system

The mass of Jupiter is 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the solar system combined. At the same time, the mass of the Sun is 99.86% of the mass of all matter in the solar system.

5. Water can miraculously float in space

Far out in the galaxy (10 billion light-years from Earth) there is a huge cloud of water vapor containing 40 trillion times more water than Earth's oceans.

6. Moon and Earth

The volume of the Moon is approximately equal to the volume of the Pacific Ocean.

7 Sombrero Galaxy

There is a galaxy 28 million light-years from Earth that looks exactly like a Mexican sombrero. It can be seen with an ordinary telescope.

8 Names Of Mars

The soil of Mars is rich in iron, which gives the planet's surface a reddish color. Because of this, the Egyptians called it Desher ("red"), and the Chinese called Mars "the fiery star". The Romans named the planet Mars, after the god of war (the equivalent of Ares in Greek mythology).

9. Timekeeping on Venus

Venus revolves around the Sun faster than the Earth, but it also rotates surprisingly slowly on its own axis. Venus makes a revolution around the Sun in 225 days, and it makes a revolution around its axis in 243 Earth days. Thus, a year on Venus is shorter than a day.

10. Apollo 11

The Apollo 11 spacecraft, which carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon, landed on the surface of the moon, as they say, "back to back". There was only 20 seconds of fuel left in the brake motor.

11. Little Stars

The densest and tiniest stars that have been found so far are neutron stars. They can have a mass many times greater than the Sun, but at the same time their size is only 20 km.

12. Collision of Galaxies

The Andromeda Galaxy flies in space towards the Milky Way at a speed of 110 km / s. The collision is expected in four billion years.

13. Most Expensive Kimchi

There is no way to know how many stars there are.

Astronomers have been able to estimate (with a huge margin of error) the number of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, between 200 and 400 billion stars. New galaxies are constantly being discovered, and given how many billions of galaxies have yet to be discovered, the number of stars in the universe is simply impossible to estimate.

No less interesting and. For unprepared people, they can seem like real magic.

Incredible Facts

Sometimes it's hard to imagine how big is space.

We can observe only a small part of the Universe, and the Earth is just a small scene in a vast outer space.

Here are some interesting facts about space that might make you think about your place in this world.

1. The sun makes up 99.8 percent of the mass of the solar system

Namely 1,989,100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg. All other planets, satellites, asteroids and other matter, including all people on Earth fit into the remaining 0.2 percent.

2. A gas cloud in the constellation Aquila contains enough alcohol to create 200 septillion liters of beer.

The amount of ethanol was measured in 1995 and scientists found 30 other chemicals in the cloud, but alcohol was the main one.

3. We have discovered more than a thousand planets outside the solar system in the last 20 years.

So far, 1822 planets have been confirmed to exist.

4. The sound of interstellar space sounds creepy

The Voyager 1 spacecraft recorded the sound of vibrating dense plasma in interstellar space in 2012 and 2013. Here's how it sounds.

Planets of the solar system

5. All the planets in the solar system could fit between the Earth and the Moon

Distance between the Earth and the Moon (384,440 km) - [Diameter of Mercury (4879 km) + diameter of Venus (12,104 km) + diameter of Mars (6771 km) + diameter of Jupiter (138,350 km) + diameter of Saturn (114,630 km) + diameter of Uranus (50,532 km) + diameter of Neptune (49,105 km)] = 8069 km

6. It takes a photon an average of 170,000 years to travel from the Sun's core to the surface.

But only 8 minutes to reach Earth.

7. We won't be able to hear any sounds in space.

Voyager attempted to record the sound of interstellar space with a plasma wave instrument, but since the gas in interstellar space is less dense, we won't be able to hear the sound ourselves.

If a sound wave traveled through a large cloud of gas in space, only a few atoms per second would reach the eardrum, and we would did not hear the sound, because our eardrum is not sensitive enough.

8. The rings of Saturn disappear from time to time.

Every 14-15 years, the rings of Saturn turn edge-on towards the Earth. They are so narrow compared to how big Saturn is that they seem to disappear.

9 Saturn Has An Extra Huge Ring Only Discovered In 2009

The ring begins about 6 million kilometers from Saturn, and its length is 12 million km, which would fit 300 Saturns. Saturn's moon Phoebe rotates inside the ring, and some astronomers believe that it is he who is the source of the ring.

10. Saturn's north pole has a hexagonal cloud

The hexagonal vortex extends nearly 30,000 km across.

11. There is an asteroid in our solar system with rings like Saturn.

The asteroid Chariklo has two dense and narrow rings. it fifth object in the solar system that has rings, along with Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus.

12. Jupiter is 2.5 times more massive (heavier) than all the planets in the solar system combined

Its weight is equal to the weight of 317.8 planets like the Earth.

13. More solar energy hits Earth in an hour and a half than we used in all of 2001.

14. If you fell into a black hole, you would be stretched like noodles.

The phenomenon is called spaggification.

15. If nothing disturbs the moon (for example, a meteorite), then the traces left on its surface will remain intact forever

Unlike Earth, there is no erosion caused by wind and water.

16. A star was recently discovered that was hiding in the brilliance of a supernova for 21 years.

The star and its companion, which exploded and hid it from view, are in the galaxy M81, located at a distance of 11 million light-years from Earth.

17 Dung Beetles Navigate The Milky Way

Birds, seals, and humans use the stars for orientation, but African dung beetles use the entire galaxy, not individual stars, to make sure they are moving in a straight line.

18. An object the size of Mars collided with Earth 4.5 billion years ago

This is by far the most plausible explanation of how the Moon formed. A chunk broke off from the object, which became the Moon, and caused the Earth's axis to tilt slightly.

Stars of the universe

19. We are all made of stardust.

After the Big Bang, tiny particles coalesced into hydrogen and helium. Then, in the very dense and hot centers of the stars, they combined to create the elements, including iron.

Since humans and other animals and most of matter contain these elements, we can be said to be composed of stardust.

20. There are countless stars in the known universe

We don't know how many stars there are in the universe. For now, we're using ballpark estimates to find out how many stars there are in our Milky Way galaxy. Multiplying this number by the estimated number of galaxies in the universe, we can say that there is an unimaginable number of stars.

According to a study by the Australian National Institute, the number of stars is approximately 70 sextillion, which is 70,000 million million million.