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STRANGE THINGS ABOUT THE UNIVERSE

Added on: 27th Aug 2016

 

 

THE SUN BOILS

mantle convection

With the right telescope, you can see the Sun boiling. Just as

warm water rises in a cookpot, cools, and falls down the sides

via the process of convection, the Sun transfers energy to its

surface via millions of cells called granules which live for

at most 20 minutes.

 

 

GRAVITATIONAL WAVES

gravitational waves from merging black holes

Albert Einstein reported on the existence of gravitational

waves back in 1916, a century before their existence was

confirmed. The science world was elated by their ultimate

discovery in 2015, revealing that space-time could actually

ripple just as the still water on a pond ripples when

a stone is tossed into it.

 

 

INTERPLANETARY TRANSPORT NETWORK

Interplanetary_Superhighway

Though it sounds like a science fiction writer’s creation, the

Interplanetary Transport Network is one of the coolest facts

about the universe on our list. Originally named the

Interplanetary Superhighway, the ITN is a set of pathways

through our Solar System based on the competing gravity

of celestial bodies. Satellites and other spacecraft can use

it to slowly move between objects while using very little energy.

 

 

PLASMA

Space_Shuttle_Atlantis_in_the_sky_on_July_21,_2011,_to_its_final_landing

Most of us were taught in science class that there are three types

of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. But there’s a fourth: plasma.

Made by heating a gas or applying a strong electromagnetic

field to it, plasma is the most plentiful form of matter in the

universe. It can be seen in neon signs and in this picture as the

Space Shuttle Atlantis re-enters the atmosphere in 2012.

 

 

AIRGLOW

airglow - Cupola_above_the_darkened_Earth

A unique phenomenon that can only be seen from space,

airglow is the release of energy by atoms and molecules high

up in the atmosphere. Releasing their energy after a day of

excitation by the Sun, the molecules can produce visible light,

such as the green given off by oxygen molecules.

 

 

DARK MATTER

Collage of six cluster collisions with dark matter maps

One of the strange things which continues to baffle astronomers

is dark matter: a “maybe it exists, maybe it doesn’t” hypothetical

substance that makes up over 80% of matter in the universe.

Scientists are currently smashing particles together in the

Large Hadron Collider to understand more about it. (So far,

the science world has broken dark matter up into different

varieties such as light dark matter, cold dark matter

and warm dark matter).

 

 

LIGHT SPEED

Earth_to_Sun distance

Light travels almost 6 trillion miles (that’s 6,000,000,000,000 or

about 9.5 trillion kms) in one year. To compare, the light from

our Sun reaches us in only 8.3 minutes.

 

 

THE SUN SELF-REGULATES

sun's core

The Sun is actually a self-regulating entity. When too many

hydrogen atoms are colliding and fusion is happening at too

high a rate, the core heats up and slightly expands onto

the outer layers. The extra space created decreases the

density of atoms and thus the collision/fusion rate.

When this happens, the core cools and shrinks, carrying

on its ever-present balancing act.

 

 

INFINITESIMALLY SMALL CHANCES

orb of the sun

The chance any hydrogen atom on the Sun will collide with another

hydrogen atom and produce nuclear fusion is estimated at

only one in every five billion years. Thankfully, there are plenty

of hydrogen atoms in the Sun’s core to test those odds so we

don’t need to worry about the Sun dimming out anytime soon.

 


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