Interesting facts about planets and space. Interesting facts about space, astronauts and planets. A black hole is the brightest object in the entire universe

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A very interesting collection of facts about space for children.

Where did the universe come from

The universe is so big that we don't even know if it has boundaries. It originated about 13.7 billion years ago when the Big Bang happened. At that moment, everything appeared: the matter from which the stars and planets are made, the forces of interaction between the particles of matter, even time and space were born in the process of the Big Bang. Why this happened, people still can not explain.

Time passed. The universe expanded in all directions and finally began to take shape. From the whirlpools of energy, tiny particles were born. Hundreds of thousands of years later, they merged and turned into atoms - “bricks” that make up everything that we see. At the same time, light arose, which began to move freely in space.

solar system

There are eight planets in our solar system, and they all revolve around the sun in the same direction. Force of gravity huge sun as if with an invisible rope it holds the planets, preventing them from escaping and flying into space. The first four planets - if you count in order from the Sun - are composed of rocks and are quite close to the star. They are called the terrestrial planets. You can walk on the solid surface of these planets. The other four planets are made entirely of gases. If you stand on their surface, you can fall through and fly through the entire planet. These four gas giants are much larger than the terrestrial planets, and they are located very far from each other.

For a long time it was believed that the most distant planet of our solar system is Pluto, which lies beyond Neptune in a region called the Kuiper Belt. But not so long ago, scientists decided that Pluto still cannot be considered a planet, because there are other celestial bodies of the same size and even larger in the Kuiper belt (for example, Eris is a planetoid discovered in 2005).

If the Earth were a cherry tomato, how big would the rest of the planets be? If we held the Earth - a cherry tomato - in our hands, then the Sun would be 500 meters away from us and would have a diameter of only 4.5 meters.

Milky Way

All the stars that are visible to us from Earth are part of large groups - galaxies that look like giant cosmic whirlpools. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way, or simply the Galaxy, and is shaped like a fireworks pinwheel. There are as many stars in it as a person cannot count in his entire life. Our Galaxy is constantly rotating, only very slowly: for a complete revolution, it takes as much as 225 million years. The Milky Way can be seen with your own eyes. To do this, you need to go to nature, away from city lights, and look at the sky. There will be a milky white streak of light. This is the Milky Way.

First walk on the moon

On July 21, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first people to walk on the moon. They wore space suits that were multi-layered to protect them from cold and cosmic radiation, and air tanks that allowed them to breathe in a vacuum. The suits were personal, and it was possible to walk in them up to 115 hours. On Earth, such suits are very difficult to wear, but on the Moon they are almost weightless.

sun and earth

Every day we see the Sun passing through the sky, but this is an optical illusion. In fact, the Sun stands still, and the Earth rotates around it and around its own axis. During the day, the Earth makes a complete revolution around its axis, substituting different sides of the Sun. That is why it seems to us that the Sun rises and sets. It's like circling around a bright lamp: it seems that it appears and disappears.

How much does a space suit cost and how does it work? How to calculate the force of gravity between celestial bodies and at what speed does the Milky Way galaxy rotate? How old is the Universe and what will happen if you fall into black hole? You can find answers to these and a number of other questions in this collection of facts about space.

Cygnus in the constellation Cygnus, is very a big star in the known universe, a hypergiant. It is almost a million times larger than the Sun.

The planet Uranus was discovered by William Herschel, who wanted to name the planet George, after King George III, but ultimately chose Uranus.

The first rockets were made 1000 years ago in China.

Robert Goddard launched the first liquid propellant rocket engine in 1926.

Over 100 artificial satellites are currently launched into space every year. Some of them are space telescopes.

The lower the satellite's orbit, the faster it must fly to avoid falling to Earth. Most satellites fly in low orbits - 300 km from the Earth.

Hipparchus was the first astronomer who tried to find out the distance to the Sun.

The red color of Mars is due to oxidized (rusty) iron on its surface.

Jupiter doesn't have a surface for spacecraft to land on because it's made up mostly of helium and hydrogen. Jupiter's gravity compresses the hydrogen so much that it turns into a liquid.

The first successful planetary space probe was Mariner 2, which flew past Venus in 1962.

Voyager 2 flew 600,000,000 km and is moving out of the solar system after passing close to Neptune in 1989.

To save fuel on flights to distant planets, space probes can use the gravity of neighboring planets to eject. It's called a slingshot.

Hubble's law showed that the universe is becoming everything. This led to the idea big bang.

The first astronomers thought that regular pulses from deep space could be signals from aliens, and pulsars were jokingly called LGMs (short for Little Green Men - MZCH - little green men).

Pulsars are probably the result of a supernova explosion - which is why most of them are in the plane of the disk of the Milky Way.

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, 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, an astronaut of the International space station Peggy Whitson has revealed 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

Risk of serious injury due to fall from orbit space debris- 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 away 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, Milky Way- from 200 to 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.

The red giant star Betelgeuse has a diameter larger than the Earth's orbit around the Sun.

For all the fans star wars" there is good news. It is possible that all of us, following the example of Luke, will be able to watch how slowly sink into the horizon, one by one, two luminaries. And this is not a fantasy of George Lucas: two suns may well illuminate not only Tatooine, but also the old Earth. Yes, yes, any day we can see a double sunset and enjoy this spectacle for several weeks.

The double sun of Tatooine is a possible reality for us in case Betelgeuse explodes

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19% of solar energy is absorbed by the atmosphere, 47% falls to Earth, and 34% returns to space.

The duration of the full solar eclipse does not exceed 7.5 minutes; complete lunar eclipse- 104 minutes.

The first star catalog was compiled by Hipparchus in 150 BC.

99 percent of the mass of the solar system is concentrated in the Sun. The Sun produces more energy in one minute than the entire Earth uses in a year. The light of the Sun that you see is 30,000 years old.

The energy that we receive from the Sun was formed in its core 30,000 years ago - that is how long it takes for photons (light particles) to “break through” from the center of the star to its surface. After that, they reach the Earth in just 8 minutes. The temperature of the solar core is more than 13 million degrees, and all the energy generated by it must first pass through numerous layers to the surface in the form of light of other radiations.

The height of the Nix Olympic volcano, located on Mars, is more than 20 km. The atmosphere of Mars is 95% carbon dioxide. . Mountains on Mars reach a height of 20-25 kilometers.

2.5 km - the maximum thickness of the ice cover at the north pole of Mars.

When we look at the furthest of visible stars, we are looking at 4 billion years in the past. The light from it, traveling at a speed of almost 300,000 km / second, does not reach us until many years later. Of the twelve most bright stars, The chapel is the northernmost.

Capella - the brightest yellow double star from the constellation Auriga at a distance of 42.2 light years from the Sun, it is also the 6th brightest star in the sky. The two components A and B are bright yellow stars of spectral type G (A - G8IIIv and B - G1IIIe). The name of the star Capella means "little goat"
(lat. Capra - "goat").

About forty new stars appear in our galaxy every year. If you stretch the web to the nearest star in the constellation Centaurus, then it would weigh five hundred thousand tons.

In 10 minutes, the spacecraft can photograph up to 1 million square meters. km earth's surface, while such a surface is removed from an aircraft in 4 years, and it would take geographers and geologists at least 80 years to do this.

The only married couple who flew into space - American astronauts Jan Davis and Mark Lee, crew members of the USS Endever (September 12-20, 1992).

A car traveling at an average speed of 60 miles per hour would take about 48 million years to reach our nearest star (after the Sun), Proxima Centauri.

12 billion years old is the age of the oldest galaxies photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

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Over the past 500 years, the mass of the Earth has increased by a billion tons due to cosmic matter. The pressure at the center of the Earth is 3 million times higher than the pressure in the Earth's atmosphere. Earth is the only planet not named after a god. About 200,000 meteorites fall to Earth every day. It takes about 8.5 minutes for sunlight to reach Earth. If the earth rotated in reverse side around its axis, then there would be two days less in a year.

The distance to the nearest (after the Sun) star from us (Proxima Centauri) is 4.24 light years.

The largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter.

All the planets in the solar system could fit inside the planet Jupiter.

The duration of the first spacewalk (Leonov) was 12 seconds.

The Mir orbital station was launched into orbit on February 20, 1986. During the entire existence of the Mir station, 135 people from 11 countries have visited it. There are more than 14 tons of various research equipment on board the Mir station.

The total mass of the Mir station with two docked ships is more than 36 tons.

The duration of one "year" on Pluto is 247.7 Earth years.

Yuri Gagarin's first space flight lasted exactly 1 hour and 48 minutes.

Asteroids 4147, 4148, 4149 and 4150 are named after the Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, respectively.

The largest lunar crater visible from Earth is called Bailey, or "death field." It has an area of ​​approximately 26,000 square miles.

The first maps of the moon were made in 1609 by Thomas Harriot. The most heat on the moon - 117 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature on the moon is -164 degrees Celsius. The highest mountain on the moon is 11,500 meters high. The moon's diameter is 3476 kilometers. The earth weighs approximately 600 trillion tons. The moon is 80 times lighter than the earth.

The hottest planet in our universe is Venus. The period of rotation of Venus around its axis is long, about 243 Earth days, - more than the period of revolution around the Sun (224.7 days), therefore, on Venus, a “day” is longer than a year. The planet Uranus is visible from Earth to the naked eye. When the scientist William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus in 1781, he was given the right to name his discovery. He chose the name Georgium Sidus (Star of George), in honor of King George III. Here is what the scientist said about this: “In past times, the names of the planets were given by the names of famous gods - Mercury, Venus, Mars, etc. In modern philosophical times, I want to do things differently. If descendants ask - when was the last planet of the solar system discovered? The answer will be very honorable - During the reign of King George III.

Uranus was also the first planet to be discovered with a telescope.
Ganymede, the largest of the moons of the planet Jupiter, is larger than the planet Mercury.

The solar surface area the size of a postage stamp shines with the same energy as 1,500,000 candles.

Neutron stars are the strongest magnets in the universe. The magnetic field of a neutron star is a million million times greater than the Earth's magnetic field. If you fill a teaspoon with the substance that makes up neutron stars, then its weight will be approximately 110 million tons!

If you put Saturn in water, it will float on the surface. The average density of Saturn's matter is almost 2 times less than the density of water. If you can find an appropriate glass (with a diameter of at least 60 thousand km), then you can check it yourself.

Sunspots are one of the reasons for the special sound of the Stradivarius violin. Antonio Stradivari is an outstanding violin master who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries. Scientists cannot figure out why his violins sound special, but they found that the wood that. he used, is very important to the sound of the violin. in the period 1500-1800, the Earth experienced the Small ice Age associated with an increase in volcanic activity and a decrease solar activity(Maunder minimum).

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 modern technologies, a few 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 new planet take people in 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 dense air envelope! 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 study program natural satellite was practically closed. 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 given a lot of attention. great importance. Particular attention was paid to the individual anatomical features of the crew members. The current approach to equipping sanitary zone spacecraft has become more versatile.

Section 7. Superstitions on board

It should be noted that interesting facts about space and astronauts cannot but affect such everyday ordinary life moments, such as 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 sprig of wormwood into the flight, the smell of which reminds of 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 development Russian cosmonautics It's 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 extremely difficult direction associated with working 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- in right hand the first astronaut squeezed a camomile?
• 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 inside this planet you can "place" all the planets that revolve in their orbits around the Sun.
• A little-known fact - the first star catalog was compiled by the scientist Hipparchus in 150 BC, very far from us.
• Since 1980, the Lunar Embassy has been selling parts of the lunar surface - by now, 7% of the surface of the Moon (!) has already been sold.
• American researchers spent millions of dollars to invent a fountain pen that could be used to write in zero gravity (Russian cosmonauts use spaceship in flight to write a pencil, and no problems arise).

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!