USELESS FACTS ABOUT SPACE

A 10 DECILLION-CARAT DIAMOND

Nicknamed Lucy, star BPM 37093 is a white dwarf star about

20 light years from Earth. (That’s pretty close, relatively speaking.)

Kim Kardashian may want to consider visiting the star since

it is a massive diamond the size of our moon. If assessed

by jewellers, the diamond would be 10 decillion carats or,

numerically, 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

carats.

THE SOMBRERO GALAXY

There’s a galaxy about 28 million light years from earth that

looks like – you guessed it – a Mexican sombrero. With a dark

sky and strong binoculars, the galaxy can be seen from Earth.

WHERE MARS GETS ITS NAME

Mars’ surface is rich in iron, giving it a reddish colour. This

composition has led to cultures as far back as the

Egyptians naming it after the colour. The Egyptians named

it Her Desher (“the red one”), the Chinese named it “fire star”

and the Romans named it Mars, after their god of war

(equivalent to Ares in Greek mythology).

ASTRONAUTS' SPECIAL PRE-LIFT-OFF DIETS

Astronauts are on strict dietary regiments before blasting off, one

of which includes eliminating beans from their diets. Apparently

scientists haven’t yet found a way for space suits to deal

with passing gas.

A YEAR ON VENUS IS SHORTER THAN A DAY ON VENUS

Venus orbits the sun faster than our own Blue Planet, but it spins

remarkably slower. It takes the planet 225 Earth days to make

one full rotation around the sun but 243 Earth days to make a

complete turn on its axis. Thus, a year on Venus is shorter

than a day.

A CLOSE CALL FOR APOLLO 11

Apollo 11, the spacecraft which transported Neil Armstrong,

Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon landed on the

lunar surface with only 20 seconds of fuel remaining.

A SMALLER STAR WITH A LARGER MASS

The densest and tiniest stars which have so far been found,

neutron stars can have a mass many times that of our sun

while being only 12.4 miles (20 km) across.

HOW JOVIAN AND JOVIAL ARE RELATED BUT AREN'T

Jupiter is a Jovian planet, meaning it’s made primarily of gases

rather than of solid matter. On the other hand, jovial (a word

meaning cheerful) comes from Jove, an alternative name for

the god Jupiter, so Jovian and jovial are definitely unrelated.