Infinite Cosmos: 29 Interesting Facts About the Universe
● According to scientists, the Moon was once part of the Earth and broke off after a large cosmic body collided with Earth billions of years ago.
● Uranus was the first planet discovered using a telescope.
● The brightness of the Sun has increased by one percent in the last century.
● At the north pole of Mars, the ice thickness reaches up to 2.5 kilometers.
● Approximately 27 tons of cosmic dust fall on Earth every day. This accumulates to 10,000 tons per year settling on our planet.
● A total solar eclipse lasts no longer than 7.5 minutes, while a total lunar eclipse can last up to 104 minutes.
● The highest temperature on the Moon reaches +117 ℃, while the lowest drops to -173 ℃.
● Approximately 40 new stars appear in our galaxy every year.
● The Big Dipper is not just a constellation but an asterism—a grouping of stars that appear close together from Earth's perspective but are actually far apart in different galaxies.
● When looking at the farthest visible stars from Earth, we see them as they were 4 billion years ago, due to the time it takes light to travel to us—over 300,000 km/s! Peering into the past.
● The tallest mountain on the Moon measures 11,500 meters.
● The mass of the Sun makes up 99.86% of the Solar System's mass, with planets and asteroids accounting for the remaining 0.14%.
● Jupiter's magnetic field is so powerful that it enriches Earth's magnetic field by billions of watts every day.
● The largest crater in the Solar System, formed by a collision with a cosmic object, is on the planet Mercury. This is the Caloris Basin, with a diameter of 1,550 km, whose impact wave changed the planet's appearance drastically.
● A solar particle the size of a pinhead, entering Earth's atmosphere, can rapidly consume oxygen and destroy all life within a 160-kilometer radius within seconds.
● One year on Pluto equals 248 Earth years—a testament to its long orbit around the Sun compared to Earth.
● Olympus Mons on Mars is the largest volcano in the Solar System, stretching over 600 km in length and standing 27 km high, much taller than Earth's tallest peak, Mount Everest, at 8.8 km.
● The explosion of a supernova releases an enormous amount of energy—within the first 10 seconds, more energy than the Sun produces in 10 billion years, surpassing all other objects in the galaxy combined. Their brightness easily outshines entire galaxies where they occur.
● On February 5, 1843, astronomers discovered a comet named "Great" (also known as the Great Comet of 1843), which split the sky with its tail, extending over 800 million kilometers when passing near Earth in March of the same year.
● Tiny neutron stars, with diameters not exceeding 10 km, can weigh as much as the Sun. The gravitational force on these astronomical objects is extremely high, potentially increasing an astronaut's weight by approximately one million tons if hypothetically standing on one.
● The tail of the "Great Comet" was visible to Earthlings for over a month until it completely disappeared from the sky on April 19, 1843.
● Most heavy elements in our bodies, such as calcium, iron, and carbon, are byproducts of supernova explosions that seeded the formation of the Solar System.
● Researchers from Harvard University determined that 0.67% of all Earth's rocks have Martian origins.
● Jupiter's moon Io hosts approximately 400 active volcanoes. Sulfur and sulfur dioxide eruptions can exceed speeds of 1 km/s, with plumes reaching heights of 500 kilometers.
● Contrary to popular belief, space is not a complete vacuum but rather contains at least one atom per 88 gallons of space matter, as there are no atoms or molecules in a true vacuum.
● Venus is the only planet in the Solar System that rotates clockwise. Several theories exist to explain this, including the slowing down and subsequent reversal of rotation due to impacts from large asteroids on its surface.
● Since the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957, humanity has filled our planet's orbit with various satellites. However, only one has met a fate similar to the Titanic. In 1993, the European Space Agency's satellite Olympus was destroyed in a collision with an asteroid.
● The largest meteorite to impact Earth is the 2.7-meter Hoba meteorite, found in Namibia. Weighing 60 tons, it is composed of 86% iron, making it the largest natural iron mass on Earth.
● Tiny Pluto is considered the coldest planet in the Solar System. Its surface is covered with a thick layer of ice, and temperatures can drop to -200 °C. The ice on Pluto has a completely different structure from Earth's and is several times stronger than steel.
