Cool Space Facts

Space is filled with strange, interesting, bizarre, and unusual things and actions.

No one has an imagination great enough to be able to come up with things that are real, but seem outrageous.

Humanity has devoted thousands of years to looking up at the stars and wondering if we are alone or if there are other living beings in the universe.

Dr. Carl Sagan, famous American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences, used to be teased when he stated that there were “billions and billions” of planets in the universe.

His fascination television show “Cosmos” got a lot of adults and kids interested in space.

The more we explore space, the more that we find out and are continually astounded.

Many of the scientific theories that we had in years gone by have been altered, changed, and updated.

With continual international and private space missions, we know that we have barely touched the surface for the breadth of knowledge.

Here are just some of the coolest space facts:

• Neutron stars have a spin rate that can reach 600 rotations per second: Neutron stars are born when the core of a supernova star explodes and collapses.

  This causes a rotation that is so fast that when viewed, the light appears to be almost steady.

• There is no noise in space: Unlike what we see in the moves and on television, space is silent. If there is an explosion, there isn’t any sound.

  Sound waves require a medium such as air or water to travel through. Since space is a vacuum, it has no atmosphere and everything is completely silent.

• The number of stars in the known universe is uncountable. When you see a picture from the Hubble Space Telescope showing the sheer volume of galaxies and then realize that each galaxy has billions of stars, the number goes beyond what the human mind can accept.

  NASA has indicated that there are a “zillion” of stars, but that number is unaccountable.

  A study at the Australian National University estimated 70 sextillion stars. That is 70,000 million million million.

• 100 million years from now we can land on the moon and still see the footprints of the Apollo astronauts.

  The moon doesn’t have any atmosphere, tectonic movement, and no water or wind to cover the footprints.

  Both the Roverprints and the astronaut’s footprints, along with anything that they have left on the moon will remain in preservation.

  The only thing that might destroy them is if they are hit with meteorites.

• Our sun is so dense that it makes up 99% of the total mass of our solar system.

  It’s this incredible density that allows it to have the powerful gravitational pull that it has. Our sun is classified as a G-type main-sequence star, which means that it fuses around 600 million tons of hydrogen to helium every second.

  The sun converts 4 million tons of matter-to-energy as a byproduct.

  The sun will not live forever, when it dies in 5 billion years it will grow to be a red giant, enveloping the Earth and everything on it.

• There is more energy hitting the Earth from the sun every hour than the entire planet uses in one year.

  This is the reason that solar energy is a high priority to replace fossil fuels.

  The Yale Environment 360 indicated that solar use around the world is increasing but as of 2017, still only accounted for 0.7% of electricity use around the globe.

• If two pieces of the same type of metal touch each other in space they will be permanently stuck together in a bond.

  This is called “cold welding” and happens because of the atoms in space for each piece have no idea they are different pieces of metal and fuse together.

  On Earth we have water and air that separate the pieces, but in space cold welding could benefit all kinds of construction.

• A day on Venus is over one Earth-year. This is due to the fact that Venus rotates very slowly.

  Venus is so hot that no one or thing can survive on it for very long. However, if you did have the ability to stand on its surface you will watch the sun rise two times during the same day.

Q&A:

• Who was the famous astronomer that coined the term “billions and billions?”
  Dr. Carl Sagan
• What is it called when two different pieces of metal touch each other in space?
  cold welding
• How fast can some neutron stars spin?
  600 rotations per second
• What percentage of mass does our sun take up in the solar system?
  99
• Can you hear an explosion in space?
  no
• How much energy does the sun send to Earth every hour?
  more than people on the Earth use in a year

• Astronomy for Kids