Space and the universe have never stopped us from being curious because of the mysteries they hold.
1. Shape of the Moon
Photo: Pexels/David Besh
Different from the round beauty that people often mistakenly think when observing this satellite from Earth, the Moon actually has an asymmetrical shape and looks like a lemon (or egg).
2. The Milky Way has a smell and taste
Photo: Pexels/Pixabay
In 2009, astronomers discovered a giant cloud of gas and dust at the center of the Milky Way galaxy filled with a chemical compound called ethyl formate.
3. A day on Mercury is 2 years long
Photo: NASA/John Hopkins-University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Mercury has a very slow rotation period, taking about 59 Earth days, but orbits the Sun quite quickly, meaning a year on Mercury is only 88 Earth days.
However, because Mercury has a large orbital eccentricity and rotates in the same direction as the Sun, it takes about 176 Earth days to complete a day and night (from sunrise to sunset).
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4. You can still survive in space if your protective gear leaks
Different from the hype of science fiction movies, that you will explode or freeze to death immediately if exposed to outer space without protective gear.
Photo: nasa.gov
Specifically, within 10 seconds, you are still alert enough because your body will use the oxygen stored in your blood.
5. One teaspoon of neutron star material weighs as much as the world’s population
Photo: pet youth science forum
Neutron stars are one of several possible ends of stellar evolution, formed from the remains of the collapse of a massive star.
6. Energy from gamma ray burst
Photo: NASA, ESA and M.Kornmesser
There is nothing in the universe that can match the power of a gamma-ray burst.
Scientists believe that gamma-ray bursts can be formed during the creation of black holes, when massive stars explode or when two neutron stars merge.
7. There are many stars we cannot see
Since the Big Bang, most objects in space have moved away from each other.
Photo: skyatnightmagazine
As regions of space move farther and farther away from each other at ever-increasing speeds, the first stars to form in the universe are no longer within our sight, even if we have glasses.
Still, we can hope to see them someday, through gamma-ray bursts at the end of a star’s life.
8. White holes
Photo: skyatnightmagazine
On April 10, 2019, the world was surprised by the image of a black hole – a mystery that has fascinated humanity for centuries, finally revealed through a photo taken by EHT (Horizon Telescope).
If a black hole is a region with a gravitational field so strong that nothing can escape, then a white hole does not allow anything to enter it.
Until now, white holes have been purely an assumption by astronomers.
9. Jupiter’s magnetosphere is very large
Photo: universetoday
The magnetosphere is the area of space surrounding a planet that is influenced by that planet’s magnetic field.
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10. Neptune has only completed one trip around the Sun
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Neptune takes up to 165 Earth years to complete a full orbit around the Sun.
Meanwhile, the `downgraded` planet – Pluto – has not even come close to completing its 248-year orbit since its discovery in 1930.
11. `Homeless` planets wandering in the universe
Photo: skyatnightmagazine
Not all planets are formed and revolve around a certain star.
12. The Sun loses 1 billion kg of mass every second
Photo: NASA/SDO
The solar wind (a stream of charged particles emitted from the Sun) causes the star to lose a significant amount of mass, about 1 billion kg per second.
13. Not all stars are single
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Sun is just one of a handful of single stars.
14. Water is found in space
Photo: nasa.gov
Earth may not be the only place with water.
Additionally, scientists think that three of Jupiter’s moons (Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) and two of Saturn’s moons (Enceladus and Titan) may have water.
15. The International Space Station (ISS) is falling
Photo: Pexels/SpaceX
The International Space Station is only 200 to 250 miles from Earth, meaning it is still subject to gravity.
Photo: nasa.gov
16. A day on Earth is getting longer and longer
Photo: Pexels/Anang Santoso
The Earth’s rotation speed is gradually slowing down every year.
17. The Moon is moving away from Earth
Photo: Pexels/Denniz Futalan
The Moon is increasingly moving away from our planet by 3.8cm every year.
18. The heat from the Big Bang is still present
The photo shows the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) – the heat from the Big Bang, still on our Earth (Photo: ESA and The Planck Collaboration).
About 380,000 years after the Big Bang, leftover radiation from the birth of the universe is still with us today, and is called the cosmic microwave background (CMB).