13 AMAZING Space Facts

 

Have you ever wondered how space smells?

 Or what the end of the universe might look like?

 Find out in 13 Space Facts That Will Both SCARE and AMAZE You!

 #13.

 “Turbo-Stars”- In 2013, astronomers discovered six stars that have frightening qualities.

 These stars similar in mass to that of our sun are the first hypervelocity stars ever observed by man.

 Hypervelocity stars are believed to be created when stars are launched into space by supermassive black holes.

 These six originated from the supermassive black hole that lies at our galaxy’s center and have been clocked at speeds over 2 million miles per hour.

 With these speeds and their rogue paths unabated to gravity they could potentially wreak havoc throughout the Milky Way.

 #12.

 “Supermassive Speedster”- What could be scarier than rogue stars speeding through our galactic backyard at 2 million miles an hour?

 Well how about a supermassive black hole that is screaming through the universe at 5 million mile per hour clip?

 Thankfully, this beast is currently in a galaxy that is eight billion light years away but who knows there could be more like it just around the corner from Earth that have yet to be observed.

 Not only that, the sheer power of a supermassive black hole let alone its aforementioned ability to launch hypervelocity stars could create chain reactions throughout the entire universe.

 Astronomers believe that this black hole attained this ridiculous speed after being pushed by gravitational waves, which are ripples in space-time.

 #11.

 “A Year In A Day”- Although it’s arguably mainly our perspective, we are very lucky as Earthlings to have the lengths of days and years they way they are.

 The 24 hour day and 365 day year are quite simple and efficient when it comes to measuring the passage of time.

 However, if you were to visit one of our closest galactic neighbors, the planet Venus, you would experience time in a truly unique way.

 Venus orbits the sun at a faster rate than that of Earth, partly because it is closer to it, but it also rotates extremely slowly compared to our blue planet.

 One year on Venus is equivalent to 224 Earth days which seems not too irregular but then consider the fact that one day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days.

 This means that their days are longer than their years, which would be quite the experience.

 You would have nights that last almost half as long as an Earth year!

 Scientists believe that these long days can be attributed to the sun’s strong gravitational hold on Venus.

 Venus also has the distinction of being the only planet in our solar system that rotates backwards which scientists theorize wasn’t always the case.

 They believe that Venus originally rotated the way that the other planets do but because of intense atmospheric tides and strong friction between its core and mantle that Venus slowly flipped over.

 So that means that it technically is spinning the correct direction but that the planet it upside-down.

 #10.

 “Big Rip”-- There are several theories on what fate the universe is headed to but one of the scariest possibilities is that of the Big Rip.

 The Big Rip is the focus of a theory that is based on mathematical models which states that the universe might be headed for the atomic paper shredder.

 In the theory the ever-expanding universe reaches a point, at roughly 22 billion years from now, in which dark matter (which has been gaining mass exponentially over time) eventually becomes a more powerful force than gravity, space and time tearing a hole in the foundational fabric of the universe.

 This would cause the atoms that make up everything to split apart instantaneously, destroying everything, with only dark matter remaining.

 #9.

 “Colder than Cold”- The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was -128.6 degrees fahrenheit or -89.2 degrees Celsius, at this point humans can only survive for around 3 minutes.

 So imagine what would happen if you were subject to temperatures over three and a half times as cold.

 Well that is exactly the type of temperature drop you could expect if you were traipsing about in space, as the average temperature of space is -455 degrees fahrenheit or -270 degrees Celsius.

 This is only 4 degrees fahrenheit and 3 degrees celsius away from the unattainable temperature of absolute zero.

 At this extreme temperature even the movement of atoms slows significantly and without the proper sweater human survival is an impossibility.

 #8.

 “Eye-Popping”- Traveling in space is extremely physically demanding.

 Even astronauts who have strict work-out regimens and diets that designed to keep them running at full-health come back from their galactic excursions emaciated with drastically reduced muscle-mass.

 But one of the lesser known maladies that astronauts face is the harsh effects that living in space can have on the eyes.

 In space, microgravity causes fluid from the lower body to flow into the head.

 The pressure from this fluid over time actually reshapes the eyes and can permanently damage them.

 There have been several astronauts who have come back from the international space station and become permanently nearsighted.

 #7.

 “Space Stink”- If you have ever imagined being able to float about in space performing a cosmic backstroke you probably never thought to imagine what it would smell like and if you did you probably thought it would smell clean like the that of sterilized equipment or have the crisp scent of cold morning dew.

 So you might be amazed to find out that space actually has a pretty strong smell and considered off-putting by some astronauts.

 When asked about the smell of space astronauts have commonly reported that it smells sulfurous like that of rotting eggs, or that it smells like searing a steak.

 They have also compared it to the smell of someone welding metal or that of gunpowder.

 While these scents may make you think twice about wanting to sniff around space there are areas in the universe that could possibly smell quite appetizing.

 In the center of the galaxy there is a recently discovered gas-cloud named Sagittarius B2 made up of the chemical ethyl formate.

 Ethyl formate has the remarkable quality of smelling like rum and is also the chemical that gives raspberries their sweet taste.

 Though this dust cloud is probably not edible, it is fun to imagine it as a delightful cosmic confection.

 #6.

 “Quasar Love”- The biggest structure in the known universe is so humongous that it defies the boundaries of modern astrophysics.

 This structure in known as the Large Quasar Group and is a cluster of galaxies in their juvenile form, also known as quasars.

 Previous models of astrophysics and the modern cosmological theory were based upon the notion that no structure could be over 1.2 billion light years wide, but the Large Quasar Group shatters that rule.

 You see the large Quasar group is over 4 billion light years wide!

 This means that it is 40,000 times the size of the Milky Way Galaxy and 40 times the size of the Virgo Cluster, the cluster of galaxies that the Milky Way calls home.

 #5.

 “Goodbye Moon”- Just after the Moon was formed around 4.5 billion years ago it sat a mere 14,000 miles away from the Earth.

 Today, the moon sits around 250,000 miles away and is continues moving further away at a rate of about one and half inches per year.

 Because of this increasing separation their could come a point in the distant future where the Earth is uninhabitable by humans.

 The rotation of the earth will become incredible unstable and erratic, which will cause ice age like conditions during winter and blistering heat in the summers.

 Natural disasters will also become rampant as the tides and wind patterns will be unpredictable as they will no longer be tamed by the moon’s gravity.

 Some scientists theorize that eventually the moon will become tidally locked to the earth, meaning it will stay in the same location at all times.

 However this would likely be after the 5 billion year mark, which is when astronomers theorize the sun will become a red giant and swallow us.

 #4.

 “The Neutron Dance”- When gigantic stars (far greater than the size of our sun) burst in a supernova most of the star is shot into space but their cores remain.

 These extremely dense cores are about the size of the average American city and after the supernova continue to collapse on themselves.

 The resulting mass is called a Neutron Star, this is due to the fact that it is made up primarily of neutrons that are formed when electrons and protons become one.

 Though relatively small in size compared to stars and planets the density of a Neutron Star is incredibly awesome, using the original definition of the word.

 A single handful of a neutron star would weigh more than ten trillion pounds.

 A neutron star also can reach speeds of over 715 rotations per seconds and has the gravity of 2 billion Earths put together.

 While they spin neutron stars shoot off powerful beams of radiation called pulsars and may even create gravitational waves.

 One form of Neutron Star, called a Magnetar, can be a terrifying prospect to anything that comes close to its destructive realms.

 Magnetars are special because they have immensely powerful magnetic fields that can literally stretch atoms.

 When the magnetic field around a magnetar starts to decay it will also start to shoot off high-energy x-rays and gamma rays at galactically destructive levels.

 #3.

 “One Gnarly Nova”- Another top-producer of dangerous gamma-rays is the almost all-powerful Hypernova.

 A hypernova is caused when star that is over 30 times the size of our sun collapses to create a blackhole which shoots out twin jets made up of massive amounts of energy.

 A hypernova is ten times brighter than that of a supernova and emits huge bursts of gamma rays.

 These gamma ray bursts can ravage entire galaxies and if Earth was as close as ten light years away from one, its radiation could permanently damage the DNA of everything on the planet.

 One of the theories for why we haven’t found life on other planets yet is that the Gamma Ray Bursts from Hypernovae are constantly exterminating any extraterrestrial organisms throughout the universe.

 #2.

 “Alien Anomaly?”- About 1,300 light years from Earth there is an odd star located in the constellation Cygnus.

 The star is called KIC 8464852 or “Tabby’s Star” and has been confounding astronomers for the better part of a decade.

 It is considered one of the strangest stars in the galaxy because it’s observable behavior is yet to be explained.

 Astronomers have noticed that it’s brightness dims substantially at regular intervals.

 Stars dipping in brightness is normal to an extent and is even how astronomers locate planets and other objects but stars usually only dip about 2% in brightness when even the biggest planets pass by whereas Tabby’s Star has been observed to dip up to 20 percent.

 This means that whatever is orbiting in front of the star has to be gigantic.

 There are many theories as to what it could be from a large group of asteroids to interstellar dust clouds but the most entertaining hypothesis is that of it being an extraterrestrial megastructure like that of a Dyson Sphere.

 #1.

 “Universal Recipe”- If day to day life on a planet of billions of people already gives you a feeling of insignificance then get ready to weep at few astounding facts about the size of the universe.

 We will start off in our own neighborhood.

 First off, the milky way is on the smaller side of galaxies in the universe but even so it is 100,000 light years across.

 So if you were trying to travel across the universe at the average highway speed limit of 65 miles per hour it would only take you a little over 10 million years.

 In regards to how big our sun is, you might not know that our sun is 109 times the size of the earth and its mass makes up an astonishing 99.8 percent of our solar system.

 If you think that’s impressive, consider this the sun is only one out of an estimated one septillion stars in the universe.

 That is the number 1 followed by 24 zeros!

 Putting this number in perspective there are an estimated 7.5 quintillion grains of sand on Earth, which means there are just over 133 thousand times more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the planet.

 Furthermore, these stars along with planets, nebulas, asteroids and everything else that is made up of matter, only count for 4 percent of the totality of the universe.

 The other 95 percent?

 Well, an estimated 21 percent is dark matter and 75 percent is dark energy, which (to top all the feelings of insignificance flowing through you right now) we know next to nothing about.

 What scares you the most about space?