Space
exploration is all about looking for new, interesting and mind-blowing facts
about space. Today, there are more than 20 big space missions that we can look
up to. While there are many interesting things about space, some of them will
leave you gasping for breath.
If you happened to be born more
recently than a few decades ago, you're likely to know very little about space
and what it is actually like. As testament, this article will share some facts
about space right now (as opposed to something much older) that might be mind
blowing if you didn't know them already. The world has changed in the last few
decades, but even now there are still many technological advancements left for
us to make if we're interested in expanding our knowledge and seeing more of
the Universe than we could ever imagine in the past.
Here are some mind
blowing facts about space right now:
1. The stars you see in the night sky are
actually a billion years old:
There are more than 100 billion
stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. And there are at least 100 billion galaxies
in the universe.
The stars you see in the night
sky are actually a billion years old. The light from these stars took that long
to reach us on Earth.
We know this because we can
study their chemical composition and the way they were formed. This helps us
understand how stars form, which is one of the keys to understanding how
galaxies evolve over time.
2: The universe is 13.7 billion years old:
The universe is 13.7 billion
years old, according to the best estimates. This is astonishing in itself, but
what's more amazing is the fact that we've been able to figure this out with
such precision. We know this because our universe has a beginning and an end,
and so it's possible to use our knowledge of how stars work to measure the age
of the cosmos.
The universe began with a singularity:
a state in which no matter existed at all. The first few minutes were pretty
chaotic, though — after all, there was nothing to hold things together! Things
started cooling down and forming into stars within the first few hundred
million years or so after the big bang (around 10-43 seconds after our universe
came into being).
3. Astronomers have found a galaxy in the
early stages of formation:
Astronomers have found a galaxy
in the early stages of formation. It's called the "Albacore" galaxy,
and it's located about 4 billion light years away from Earth.
The Hubble Space Telescope
captured the image of this galaxy on December 20, 2014. The galaxy was formed
by a big bang and is now giving birth to a new generation of stars. Astronomers
say that this is an extremely rare event and they have never seen anything like
it before."
4. There is a new planet that could support
life outside our solar system:
There is a new planet that
could support life outside our solar system, scientists have found.
The planet is in a
"Goldilocks" zone where it's neither too close to its star, nor too
far. It orbits its star at a distance of just 1.9 billion miles (3 billion km)
and is similar to Earth in terms of temperature, water and atmosphere.
The discovery was made by
astronomers from the University of California San Diego and the University of
Hawaii at Manoa using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope
(VLT).
It's thought that the planet
would be an ideal place for life to develop because it receives about 10 times
as much solar radiation as Earth does.
5. Astronomers have identified three
potentially habitable planets beyond the solar system:
Astronomers have identified
three potentially habitable planets beyond the solar system.
Astronomers have found that
there are billions of planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy alone. But
these are not just any planets. Astronomers have discovered that these planets
all have a similar temperature to Earth and have an atmosphere with oxygen.
These are the conditions that would make life possible on a planet like ours.
These discoveries show us that
there is a lot more out there than we thought, but it also raises questions
about what we should do with this information. Should we send humans to one of
these alien worlds? Or should we build space habitats where we can live
indefinitely?
5. The 'dark side' of the Moon has water in
its soil:
The dark side of the moon has
water in its soil.
A team of scientists has found
evidence for liquid water on the surface of the moon's dark side, contrary to
what most people think.
The finding could shake up
theories about how water got onto Earth.
The team went looking for water
in a region called mascons, which are large regions of high gravity that sit
under the lunar surface. They found that these regions contained ice and even
some minerals that could only be made by processes involving water.
6. Astronomers find a dwarf planet at the
edge of the solar system:
Astronomers have discovered a
new dwarf planet outside our solar system. It's named Oort Cloud Object 2012
WF9 and it's even been given its own name: 2012 WF9.
This is the first time
astronomers have found an object in the outer reaches of our solar system, but
they're not sure if it's a planet or a comet.
7 .A massive gas cloud may hit our galaxy
one day:
This new idea suggests that
we're living in a giant bubble of hot gas that forms around galaxies, and that
it's all tied to the Milky Way. This "galactic web" is made of hot
gas and clusters of stars, according to the researchers.
It's not clear how this cosmic
bubble will affect life on Earth, but it could change the way we view space —
and how we live here on Earth.
8. Scientists say there is an ocean beneath
Jupiter's moon Europa's frozen surface, which could support life:
Scientists say there is an
ocean beneath Jupiter's moon Europa's frozen surface, which could support life.
The icy moon may have the conditions to harbor life, researchers said.
The ocean is estimated to be 30
miles deep and about 60 miles wide, according to NASA. It's located underneath
a thick crust of ice — about 10 miles thick. The water is thought to be liquid,
but scientists aren't sure if it's acidic or not because no one has been able
to drill into the ice to determine its chemical makeup.
The ocean also seems to have an
ecosystem of microorganisms that thrive in extreme temperatures and pressures
found in these kinds of environments. Researchers say they hope to find out
more by sending a probe through the moon's atmosphere and landing on its
surface in a future mission.
Conclusion:
We've covered some pretty
mind-blowing facts already, but there are plenty more that the rest of the
world should know about. Of course, there's always more to learn about space,
so we'll continue updating this list as we discover new facts.
These facts are certainly
overwhelming and mind blowing! The universe is constantly expanding and
disappearing. And even with all of the scientific knowledge we have right now,
it's hard to wrap our minds around it. But these facts can help us to truly appreciate
the wonder and beauty of space, while at the time inspiring us to work harder
to learn and understand more about the universe.
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