The universe is a mind-blowing place. The universe is vast, and it is, therefore, hard to tell of all its complexities. Human beings can only watch in amazement at the large surface of the universe.
Simply put, all the ordinary material visible accounts for 4% of the universe's matter! In fact, JBS Haldane, a British biologist, said that the universe is stranger than what people imagine.
The universe continues to perplex astronomers, from its acceleration to expansion. Read on to learn about 5 fun facts that have to do with the universe.
A Day on Venus Lasts Longer Than a Year on Venus
Due to its slow rotation, Venus takes 243-earth days for one rotation. The orbit of the planet takes 225 earth-days. That indicates that a year is shorter than a day on this planet.
Because the lengths of the year and day are the same, a single day on planet Venus is different from one day on Earth. Where we live, sunrise and sunset occur once every day. On Venus, sunrise takes place every 117 earth-days.
There Is a Massive Black-Hole Within Each Galaxy
Every active Galaxy emits 100 times more light compared to an ordinary galaxy. The discovery in 1963 confirmed that light emanates from the center of the Solar System and not from the stars. Heated incandescence matter is the only credible source of energy due to its swirling into a giant black-hole.
In the 1990s, the telescope used by NASA experts identified that though the active galaxies for one-percent of the galaxies, it is an anomaly to have the supermassive black-holes.
Almost all galaxies have one, including our own Milky Way. However, they lack an adequate supply of food. With that, most of the galaxies have switched off.
When You Gaze Into the Sky at Night, You Are Staring Back in Time
Due to finite light velocity, when you look up into the sky at night, you gaze into the past. Famous bright star, Sirius, is 8.6 light-years away. That is to say that the light that hits your eye this night has been in motion for 8.6 years!
Alternatively, we can say that you will have seen Sirius tonight when you see it as it was 8.6 years ago. As you gaze at distant objects, the impact broadens.
The Big Dipper stars range between 60-125 light-years. Meaning, when you look at Dubhe, Dipper's front star, you look at the light that existed before your birth.
It Takes 225-250 Million Years for the Sun to Travel Around the Galaxy
One journey of the planets and the Sun around the Milky Way Galaxy is referred to as a cosmic year. Unfortunately, this journey takes an average of 225-250 million earth years.
You probably won’t be existing by the time the Sun completes this movement! Indeed, the last time the Sun occupied its current position within the Galaxy, Pangea was breaking apart.
The Biggest Mountain of Our Solar System Is in Mars
The highest elevation within the Solar System is on Mars, even though Mars is smaller than our planet Earth. On Earth, we use the term "sea level" for reference to anything above the ground.
The heights of mountains are determined from this reference point. This is not the case on Mars.
This reference is used to tell the height of the Olympus mons mountain. The mountain has a height of about 15.5miles, equivalent to 26 kilometers. It sprawls to about 600 kilometers across.
One Spoon of a Neutron Star Weighs a Billion Tons
Neutron stars form when a big star collapses after running out of fuel. These stars are several times heavier than our own Sun. They are born out of explosions of the supernova.
They are at the very core of the star. The collapse of the massive stars leaves behind very dense material, inherited by the neutron star.
The material is a neutron star measure about 12. 5 miles across. Most amazingly, this content weighs up to a trillion kilograms, which is a billion tons on Earth. This material is about as much as the weight of a mountain.
Conclusion
So much has been discovered about the universe by scientists. But, with the rapidly growing technology, so much is still to be discovered. These facts exist to explain the unfathomable nature of the universe.
