Scientists have revealed the secrets of stars and planets by exploring outer space. Many objects were at first simply mathematically calculated in theory, and when powerful telescopes were invented, these facts were confirmed. Now people have the technical ability not only to photograph amazing space phenomena, but also to understand how everything works with the help of space probes.
We have collected cosmic facts to prove that the Universe is much more mysterious than it seems
We at Bemorepanda have put together a good dose of scientific space facts for you to show how our Universe is both an amazing and strange place in space.
1. The Perseverance rover is looking for signs of life on the Red Planet
NASA's Perseverance landed on the most intriguing planet in the solar system, Mars, two years ago. This happened in February 2021. The task of "Perseverance" is to collect data to answer the question: did someone live on the planet before it became a lifeless desert.
The rover is drilling and collecting rock samples, looking for signs of microbial life, testing oxygen production for further human colonization of the planet.
Perseverance traveled 211 million km of outer space before successfully landing on the surface of Mars. It took him 7 months of Earth time to do this. NASA plans that the collected samples, which the rover is stockpiling in caches, will be brought back to Earth by follow-up missions in the 2030s.
2. A huge cloud of water floats in space
Astronomical observations in 2011 led to a striking conclusion: at a distance of about 12 billion light-years from our Earth, there is a huge accumulation of water vapor in outer space.
This is the largest cloud that is known to mankind. It appeared at an early stage of the origin of the Universe, when its age was about 1.6 billion years. Therefore, this accumulation of water vapor in space is also the oldest of all known to astronomers.
To imagine its size, you need to try to mentally increase our entire water supply, which is located in the oceans and seas of the Earth, by 140 trillion times. It is unlikely that this will work for an ordinary earthling. But that's not all, here's a little more coolness.
Astronomers believe that this grandiose accumulation of steam is nothing more than a source of energy for the life and growth of a black hole. If there is enough carbon monoxide in the form of gas in the cloud, then the black hole has every chance to increase in size by six times with all the ensuing consequences - black holes absorb matter irrevocably!
3. Jupiter's Great Red Spot Is Shrinking
The planet Jupiter is a gas giant, which is an accumulation of hot gases. Jupiter's calling card is its Great Red Spot, or GRS (Great Red Spot), which is nothing more than a high-pressure storm raging on the planet - a giant storm, or rather a cyclone.
This phenomenon lasts for 300 years, and once its area was three times the diameter of the Earth. But astrophysicists are seeing a gradual contraction of the Great Red Spot, which is getting narrower. Now the dimensions of the GRS are 8000 miles (about 13 thousand km). But you can not worry about the complete disappearance of the Red Spot - it becomes smaller in width, but grows in height.
4. Black and white moon of Saturn
Not one moon revolves around Saturn, like the Earth, but as many as 53, and these are only those that received their own names. In addition to them, smaller satellites revolve near Saturn, which have not yet been honored to be named by official science.
The brightest and most unusual of the moons of the giant of the solar system is Iapetus, who managed to be two-faced: one of his hemispheres is dark and the other is light. This rocky fragment is small in size - its diameter is 914 miles, or about 1.5 thousand km.
The light side is capable of reflecting 20 times more light than the dark side, and scientists are well aware of why this happens. This area is normal ice. But why it is always dark on the other side is not entirely clear. According to one theory, another of the moons - Phoebe - shows a vindictive nature and emits a stream of particles towards Iapetus. According to a more recent theory, Saturn's two-faced moon rotates so slowly that its dark material absorbs heat and therefore darkens more and more.
5. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system
It is unlikely that a human foot will set foot on Venus in the near future, because on this hot planet the average temperature reaches 450 - 462 ° C. This is enough to melt the lead, but not enough heat to melt the steel (it needs 2500°F, or 1370°C).
450 Celsius means that no form of life known to us today is possible on Venus. By comparison, the average temperature on Earth is only 58.6°F, or 17.8°C. Extremophile organisms can live happily on Earth at 206°F (96.7°C), but even they cannot survive on Venus.
At the same time, it is worth considering that the "Morning Star" is not located closer to the Sun than the rest - it is in second place after Mercury. Venus, on the other hand, has a super-dense atmosphere that can hold greenhouse gases, and therefore the planet is an uninhabitable “gas chamber”.
6. Amazing speed of rotation of neutron stars
The birth of neutron stars occurs at the moment of explosion and death of stars, the mass of which is 8 times greater than the Sun, and as a result of a supernova explosion. These celestial bodies are very small in size - their radius is from 10 to 20 kilometers, and their mass is about the same as that of the Sun, but they have a huge density.
If you theoretically weigh one teaspoon of the substance that makes up a neutron star, then the scales will show one billion tons. How much such a star will weigh as a whole is hard to even imagine, although it is possible to calculate. If people were on the surface of a neutron star, they would experience the force of gravity 2 billion times more powerful than Earth's.
The most amazing thing is the speed of rotation of these celestial bodies. Due to the compression of the core and a sharp decrease in inertia, the new neutron star begins to rotate very quickly - up to 43 thousand revolutions per second, however, the speed slows down over time. Astrophysicists have calculated and then discovered more than 2500 neutron stars in outer space.
7. A distant planet with a diamond core
Exoplanet 55 Cancer e is a celestial body in the status of a super-Earth, which is approximately twice the size of our Earth and is part of the distant planetary system of the star in the constellation Cancer. It was named Janssen and studied with the help of modern telescopes and satellites.
The planet is located far from us - at a distance of 40 million light years. 55 Cancri e revolves around its star in a very low orbit, making one revolution in 18 Earth days - a year there lasts a little more than two weeks! Such proximity of one side of the planet to the star leads to heating to a temperature of 2400 ° C - this is an ocean of lava on the surface. The other side heats up to 1100°C and has an atmosphere.
Scientists have suggested that 55 Cancer e has carbon in its depths, which, due to high temperatures and density, may well have the form of graphite and diamonds, and there are very, very many of them!
8. Ice space cryovolcanoes
A volcano on our planet is a geological object that spews molten and red-hot lava from its depths. In space, at low temperatures, volcanoes also operate, but they spew out frozen water, ammonia and methane, which come out in the form of steam, cryolava and volcanic snow.
Many cryovolcanoes have been discovered on the planets and satellites: Pluto, Triton - the satellite of Neptune, Titan - the satellite of Saturn, on Europa and Io - the satellites of Jupiter. On Io, NASA probes have detected very high activity, with plumes of frozen steam from hundreds of vents stretching horizontally for 400 km. Why cryovolcanoes erupt is still not exactly clear, researchers call the gravitational attraction of cosmic bodies the reason.
9. Our galaxy will collide with the next
Together with our solar system, we are hurtling through space in the Milky Way galaxy. The nearest neighboring Andromeda galaxy is a huge distance of 2.5 million light years. But the problem is that the Milky Way and Andromeda are flying at cosmic speeds towards each other, and someday a collision is inevitable, astrophysicists say. As a result, both galaxies will be destroyed, and everything we know about the world and space will disappear.
The speed of these star formations is 250 thousand miles per hour (402 thousand km / h), and given the enormous mass of both objects, the death of stars and planets is inevitable. As a result, what remains will be a completely different galaxy, which has nothing in common with our star-planetary system.
What should humanity do? You can relax a little: the collision will not happen earlier than in 4 billion years, so for now you can safely go about your business.
10. Space cold welding
On our planet, we connect two metal parts by welding: we heat the metal until it reaches its melting point, after which the molecules combine.
But in outer space, if we want to join metal parts, we don't need hot welding. No other similar steps are needed. There is a method of cold welding - when metals are connected either by compression or by shear sliding. At the same time, the protection in the form of an oxide layer is erased, which prevents the metals from merging under Earth conditions.
But there is no air and oxygen in space, and this layer is lost, so nothing prevents electrons from flowing from part to part, fusing them into one.
11. Uranus has a strong orbital inclination and a long winter.
The planets revolve around the Sun with some tilt. For example, our Earth has a tilt angle of 23 degrees. Thanks to this, we know the pronounced seasons and the change of weather - in summer the part of the planet where we live leans closer to the sun, and therefore we are warm, and in winter our territory is at a far distance, and we have cold.
But the ice giant Uranus has a planetary tilt "beyond". Its rotation angle is nearly 98 degrees, making its placement relative to the Sun "on its side and slightly head down". The planet makes a full revolution around the Sun in 84 Earth years, so the "season", in our understanding, here lasts 21 years, with 42 years being a polar day, the other 42 being a polar night. The winds of Uranus reach a speed of 240 m/s, and the temperature drops to minus 224 °C. In short, this planet is cold, very cold.
12 Largest Canyon System On Mars
Mars is already fairly well understood thanks to the advent of powerful telescopes and space probes, and NASA's Perseverance module is currently doing a detailed study.
This amazing planet has the largest and most extensive canyon found among the planets of the solar system, including Earth. The Mariner Valleys are a gigantic canyon system discovered by Mariner 9 back in 1972. It is 4,500 km long, ten times the length of the Grand Canyon in the United States, and covers a quarter of the entire circumference of Mars.
The width of the canyons reaches 600 km - this is 20 times the Grand Canyon, and the depth reaches 11 km, seven times the largest canyon on Earth. It is believed that the Mariner Valleys were formed during the formation of the planet and deepened due to erosion, and possibly the powerful giant volcanoes of the Martian province of Tharsis.
13. Mercury shrinks in size
It was believed that our Earth is the only planet in the solar system that continues to shrink. This is caused by tectonic activity, when the movement of lithospheric plates under the earth's crust releases energy and deforms the surface, which leads to gradual compression.
But now there are other data. Earth is not the only planet that is gradually shrinking in size. The smallest planet in the solar system, Mercury, as it turns out, is also in the process of warping. This was revealed by the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2016. Rock-like landforms, called fault ledges, have been discovered, which indicate that the planet is still in the formation stage, although 4.5 billion years have already passed since the creation of the solar system.
14. Neptune warms itself
Neptune happened to be at the farthest end of the solar system with a distance of 4.55 billion km from the Sun, so that the year on this ice giant lasts almost 165 Earth years. At the same time, Neptune is spinning as best it can - it rotates around its axis at a speed of one revolution in 16 hours.
It may seem that a severe cold and darkness reigns on the planet, but this is not entirely true. What is on Neptune is hurricane-force winds and storms that accelerate to 600 m / s. But if the planet does not have enough light and heat from the Sun, then you have to produce this heat on your own, which Neptune does.
Its internal temperature is much higher than that of Uranus, due to which weather changes occur. The exact cause is not yet known, but it is believed that the hydrogen, which is located in the depths of Neptune, increases the heat. The planet produces its own heat 2.6 times more than it can receive from the Sun, so it is terribly cold in the upper atmosphere - minus 220 °C, and inside the planet warms up to plus 7000 °C.
15. Saturn and its mysterious hexagon
The size of Saturn is 9.5 times larger than the Earth, and despite the fact that the planet has no solid and consists of gases, its mass is 95 times greater than that of the earth. Saturn makes one revolution around the star in 29.45 Earth years, but it turns around its axis in 10 hours 32 minutes, ranking second in terms of rotation speed after Jupiter.
The features of Saturn include its extraordinarily beautiful rings, consisting of particles of ice and stones, and in addition, a completely unique and amazing phenomenon - a regular hexagon located at its north pole. This is nothing more than a cluster of clouds, but scientists have not yet figured out why they took the correct geometric shape. It is only known that one side is 13800 km and four of our planets Earth can easily fit inside this formation.
The hexagon rotates with a period of 10 hours. 39 min., but at the same time it does not change its shape. A strong turbulent vortex is raging inside it, and this storm has been going on, according to observations, for 40 years now. Perhaps the strange shape is due to zonal jets extending downwards in high-pressure areas.
16. Cosmic distances are beyond imagination.
People do not even think about the fact that they live on a small planet that flies in a boundless dark space. We measure the distance using the time we spend on the move - for example, to work 30 minutes, to the store 10 minutes walk.
But in space, you have to measure the distance in light years. One light year is the distance that a ray of light (its speed is 300 thousand km / s) is able to overcome in one calendar year. To imagine this scale, let's take the distance from the Earth to the Moon - it will take only 1.3 seconds for the beam to travel these 380 thousand km to our satellite. It would take nine hours for a modern spacecraft to do this.
But if we decide to fly to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, we will have to travel 4.246 light years (at the speed of light). The same journey in a car at a speed of about 100 km/h would take 356 billion years.
17. Twinkling Stars
If we look at the sky, we will find that the stars twinkle and twinkle, but the planets do not, they continue to shine with a steady light. Why it happens?
The explanation lies in the mobility of our planet's atmosphere. The light that the star emits enters the atmosphere and is refracted in it, which our eyes perceive as flickering. The planets seem large to us, and their reflected light is also refracted in the atmosphere, but due to the size of the planets, these distortions are compensated, as a result of which our eyes see a steady brilliance.
18. Temperature spread of Mercury
Even on Earth, one can encounter a large spread in the values of a street thermometer, when in summer it is plus 45 ° C in the region, and minus 30 ° C in winter. But small in size Mercury has gone much further and can greatly surprise with its temperature drops.
Since this planet is located closest to the Sun and the period of its revolution around the star is the shortest - only 87.97 Earth days, Mercury has no atmosphere and there has been no geological activity along with internal heat over the past few billion years, and the temperature change is significant.
So, at night at the equator on the surface of the planet it is minus 173 °C, during the day this area warms up to plus 427 °C. This spread is the widest among all other planets in the solar system. In the polar zones, the temperature is more stable and does not rise above minus 93 °C. If you suddenly find yourself on Mercury as a traveler, you will have to rack your brains well, choosing your wardrobe.
19. Planetary diamond showers
Probably, diamond planets exist somewhere, and scientists even point to these amazing celestial bodies, but they are far beyond our solar system.
But even among the closest neighbors of the Earth there are planets in the atmosphere of which it can rain from real diamonds. The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn are able to turn the methane they are made of into carbon black under the influence of thunderstorms raging on the surface. As the soot settles, it becomes graphite, which crystallizes into diamonds.
When these diamond crystals, about one centimeter in diameter, approach the red-hot core, they melt and transform into diamond liquid droplets. Thus, those astronauts who dare to take these diamonds into their pockets have very little time left.
20. What is more - sand or stars?
Carl Sagan said that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on the entire earth. Astronomer Bob Berman decided to check and refuted this statement. For calculations, he applied mathematical methods: he multiplied the 100 billion stars that one galaxy in our Universe has by the probable number of galaxies (which is from 200 billion to 3 trillion galaxies). Then he counted how many grains of sand are in one cubic centimeter and multiplied by the amount of sand on Earth. And what turned out? There were as many grains of sand as there are stars in the universe.
If you recall the 90s, then at the beginning there was complete chaos and, rather, in the worst sense than in the best. People went crazy with the surging permissiveness, foreign products appeared on the market, but at the same time the economy suffered greatly. By the end of the 1990s, the situation had changed slightly, but fashion became even more insane and unrestrained. Of course, the stars also did not lag behind, and came off to the fullest, putting on everything that was in trend then, and doing things that they would hardly have done now.
Pamela Anderson, 1995
Christian Bale at the premiere of The Velvet Goldmine, 1998
Kylie Minogue as a model at the debut show of Antonio Berardi, 1995
Carla Bruni, 1990s
At the age of 19, Channing Tatum worked as a stripper, 1999
Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling, 2001
Monica Bellucci, 1991
Sarah Michelle Gellar, 1998
Dave Grohl and his cute pigtails, 1996
Britney Spears at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards
Drew Barrymore, 1995
Members of the group "tATu" Julia Volkova and Lena Katina, 2002
Keanu Reeves, 1993
Gwen Stefani, 1996
Nicole Kidman, 1999
Gillian Anderson, 1996
Applying makeup during filming is not a quick process. Mainly when not only the image of the character depends on it but also on the film's overall success. The Deadpool actors must endure many hours of sitting in the make-up chair and all their manipulations, sometimes reminiscent of “torture.”
Changed beyond recognition! What makeup can do to actors
Bemorepanda found examples of what actors go through to make their on-screen characters stand out and memorable. For example, make-up for 8-9 hours. And this, it turns out, is not the most challenging thing that they sometimes have to face.
1. 8-9 hours, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique in X-Men
“It was a nine-hour make-up process. Throughout three films, we managed to cut it down to seven hours, but it was still... a lot. And I realized pretty quickly that this was my job, which was to apply all this makeup! — Rebecca Romijn, Looper
2. 8-9 hours, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique in X-Men: First Class
In First Class, the filmmakers stayed accurate to Rebecca Romijn's original costume. But for Jennifer Lawrence, the body paint caused such severe skin irritation that she had to call a doctor. For the next film, X-Men: Days of Future Past, they switched to bodysuits. It also helped save all that time on set.
“I'm so excited because I'm going to wear a tight suit. It will be from the neck down so that it will cut time and blisters." - Jennifer Lawrence.
3. 8.5 hours, Jim Carrey as the Grinch in The Grinch Stole Christmas
The process of putting on makeup and costume took so long that the film producer brought in a CIA officer whose job was to help people endure torture.
4. 8 hours, Halle Berry as Jocasta Ayres (and five other characters) in Cloud Atlas
In addition to her role as Jocasta Ayres, Berry is also known as:
- Louise Ray
- Ovid
- Meronym
- Native woman
- Indian party guest
5. 8 hours, Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in "Power."
“In the old days, when we were sculpting foam fixtures, we would reshape the jaw and chin area a bit because it would compress a bit. But now, in silicone, we must accentuate the cheekbones and jawlines because his weight pulls him down. So it isn't easy. It would help if you had to know what you're doing." — Makeup artist Greg Cannom, Vox.
6. 7-8 hours, John Hurt as John Merrick in The Elephant Man
The make-up for John Hurt, resembling the real-life John Merrick, was created using the casts of Merrick's body in the Royal London Hospital.
7. 7 hours, Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna in Stranger Things 4
Take a behind-the-scenes look below for a closer look at the process.
8. 7 hours, Michael Dorn as Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation
According to Michael Dorn, over time, the makeup process has become easier:
“Now it's not that weird because it used to be quite difficult because they used a lot of glue and makeup. It was just a natural process."
9. 7 hours, Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson in Deadpool
Seven hours is a very long time, and the makeup artists were uneasy when Ryan Reynolds once pranked them by ripping it all off after they were done.
Here's how it was:
10. 6 hours, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze in "Batman and Robin."
For some close-up shots, Arnold had to put an LED in his mouth, and at some point, it became quite dangerous:
“When you put it in Arnold's mouth, Arnold's saliva seeps into the seams of this thing and attacks the batteries. Batteries begin to disintegrate, and battery acid may begin to enter Arnold's mouth." — Makeup artist Jeff Dawn, THR.
11. 6 hours, Gary Oldman as Mason Verger in Hannibal
Greg Cannom, who worked with Christian Bale on The Authority, was Hannibal's makeup artist:
“I knew we could get away with [Oldman] more than any other actor. He first said, "Can we open my eye?" It's disgusting. I showed people pictures of [Oldman as Verger], and they all just said, “Oh my God!” and left, which made me very happy.” — Cannom, The Guardian.
12. 5-6 hours, Doug Bradley as Hellraiser in Hellraiser
“The process started with Clive sketching out his ideas that we had to work through together, and then we came up with other ideas based on those sketches. Initially, Pinhead was not at all what he is now. He was much more like Nightbreed's Shunu Sassi character, with only needles sticking out of the top of his head. I looked at it and thought, "Clive [Barker, director], we can't do it with that budget." I knew this makeup would last six days, and we couldn't do it on such a tight budget. He said, "Okay, let's think about it." That's when we came up with this grid pattern on a lifecast to determine where we were going to insert what were originally supposed to be six-inch nails. Clive looked at the mesh and decided he liked its symmetry, so we left it in place." — Makeup artist Bob Keane, DailyDead.
13. 5 hours, Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Greg Cannom ("Power," "Hannibal") is back in business:
“I had time to get it right, which I don’t usually do in a film. We did intensive tests for two weeks before filming started at every age and did make-up after make-up. The make-up had to work. Otherwise, the film wouldn't have worked." — Kann, Variety.
14. 5 hours, John Matuszak as Sloth in The Goonies
Back in 2019, 34 years after the release of The Goonies, test shots of the Sloth makeup were finally found.
15. 5 hours Dave Bautista as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy
“Drax started with a five-hour make-up, and gradually the time began to decrease, as expected. Such extensive makeup is a real challenge for the team because it is so complex.
“Every day, a plastic mold was offered that was the exact shape of David's body, with perforated holes indicating where the prosthesis begins and ends. Through it, a drawing showing a map was applied to rice paper.
“All teams had different tasks in this sequence. Some begin the application of paint, while others complete the shading of the dentures. We added subtle layers of browns, reds, and greens to the base gray to break up the tone and spice it up before the final color unwrapping.
"The whole body is then sealed with a retainer so that it can withstand daytime shooting." — Makeup artist David White, Business Insider.
16. 5 hours, Zoe Saldana as Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy
“This time, I was picked up at three in the morning - my dog was not even happy about it. I had to sit for five hours for five months. It was crazy, but it paid off. The film is fantastic." — Zoe Saldana, US Weekly.
17. 5 hours, Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle in The Fly
“Yes, Chris Wallace got an Oscar for it. And Stéphane Dupuis put me in the dentist's chair for five hours and used this thing. And then another hour after we finished… well, you know, labor, labor, labor… took it off. This suit is a little tight... the rubber suit... so I look so... ugly. And then prosthetics. — Jeff Goldblum, Yahoo.
18. 6 hours, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
“Maria walked onto the set in the midst of filming Terminator 2. And then she saw me - when half of the face disappeared, and the eye lit up. All this weird makeup... So she started screaming and crying on set because she didn't understand why dad looked like that." - Arnold Schwarzenegger.
19. 5 hours, Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose
Marion Cotillard didn't mind the five-hour make-up because she's a big fan of Edith Piaf and wanted to give her credit:
“It was very stressful, but she was a powerful person. I love tragedy. Not in my life. But I love to play a tragedy. It allows me to express so many things. At the same time, I feel empty and full of emotions; I feel alive." — Marion Cotillard, Under the Radar.
20. 5 hours, Tim Curry as Lord of Darkness in "Legend."
“We had terrible negotiations about what parts of me would be visible. I fought and begged to have my own eyes… My eyes were solid contact lenses, like wolf or cat eyes, which were very painful to install because they took a cast of your eye and inserted it into your eye. If it hurt, they scratched him a little until he stopped hurting.” — Tim Curry, Legend commentary.
The most romantic and promising night is expected in 2022 from 12 to 13 August. It is during this period, according to scientists, that the peak of the meteor shower will occur. We will tell you at what time there will be the most shooting stars, and how to make wishes correctly so that they come true.
Perseid meteor shower 2022
How and when to watch the Perseid meteor shower in August?
The effect of the meteor shower is generated by particles from the tail of comet Swift-Tuttle. Moving along a highly elongated orbit, it makes one revolution around the Sun in 133 years. When approaching a star, the comet's nucleus partially evaporates, and the gases carry dust and small stones with them, forming a bright tail behind it. Despite their small size (only a few millimeters), they have tremendous speed, therefore, crashing into the atmosphere, they flash very brightly. Particles hit the earth's atmosphere at a speed of 53 km/s.
The Perseid meteor shower phenomenon occurs annually. Its peak is in mid-August. This year, the conditions for observing meteorites are especially favorable, since the maximum activity of the stream falls on the period when it will be night in Europe. In addition, a new moon is expected on August 11, which means that moonlight will not interfere with observations.
Where is the best place to watch the Perseid meteor shower?
The Perseids will be best seen in places where the sky is not covered by clouds. To observe the meteor shower, you do not need special equipment (telescopes, tubes, binoculars). It is enough to go further out of the city (30-50 kilometers) so that light pollution is minimal. Astronomers advise to observe the Perseids to get to where the eastern or southern part of the horizon is more open. Stop looking at bright light sources (flashlights, smartphones, campfires) 15 minutes before observations so that your eyes get used to the darkness. If you have poor eyesight, don't forget to wear glasses. In addition, the nights get noticeably colder in August, so be sure to bring warm clothes with you just in case. The best thing to do when observing a meteor shower is to lie down (bring a mattress) and try to observe the night sky continuously for 15 minutes (or even better).
When is the best time to watch the Perseid meteor shower?
It is best to observe the Perseid meteor shower (it is also often called meteor shower) on the night of August 11-12 and from August 12-13. The maximum peak of the flow activity falls on the night from the 12th to the 13th. Observation should start at 22 pm and continue until about 3 am. It will be possible to observe falling meteorites on other nights, but it is during this period of time that there will be maximum meteor activity. According to the International Meteor Organization (IMO), this weekend the frequency of meteors will reach 120 per hour.
Is it possible to photograph falling meteorites?
Yes. Having a SLR camera and the skill of working with long exposures.
When is the next meteor shower?
The Perseid shower is an annual phenomenon. Those who are not lucky this time with the weather and cloud cover will be able to try their luck next year.
The next meteor shower called the Draconids can be observed from 8 to 10 October. These are other meteor showers, and they are not as active as the Perseids. Their predicted falling frequency is about 15-20 meteors per hour.
How to make wishes so that they come true
1. Think about what you most want. Formulate your desire as clearly, concisely and clearly as possible. No need to describe exactly how everything should happen, just set a goal.
It is believed that one should always leave the Universe a place for creativity. Desires never come true in the way we imagine it to be, therefore it is better to concentrate on the ultimate goal, and let the Universe choose the path to fulfilling the dream on its own.
Refuse "not" and negativity in the formulation of desire.
2. A prepared desire should be written down on a piece of paper. From excitement, you can forget the correct wording, and you simply won’t have time to think - the particles of the comet burn out literally in an instant.
3. You can prepare a few wishes, but don't get too carried away. Choose the most intimate.
4. Sit comfortably by a window, on a balcony, in a park or countryside. For safety reasons, you should not be alone outside the house. Invite someone close to you whom you trust. Together it's safer and more fun.
5. When the "shooting star" appears in the sky, say your desire loudly and clearly. Then thank the Universe.
6. Let go of your dream. Try not to think about it anymore, not to dream about its fulfillment and not to talk to anyone about this. Don't expect your dream to come true instantly. Obsession will only hinder implementation. Give the universe time and opportunity to improvise.
Interesting details about meteors
The origin of meteor showers is associated with comets. There is a hypothesis that meteor showers were formed as a result of the decay of existing or once existing comets.
There are quite a lot of such falling meteor showers every year. There is even a calendar when you can see this fantastic sight in all its splendor. Each meteor shower has its own name: Lyrids, Draconids, Orionids, Leonids. Astronomers know about the existence of 64 large meteor formations.
It is worth noting that there are still "meteor showers", which are formed from the destruction of meteorites. These fragments of cosmic strangers can be quite large and often reach the surface of the Earth. Such phenomena are called "meteorite showers".
In addition to knowing the exact date of the upcoming star extravaganza, you must follow a few simple rules. To see "shooting stars" it is necessary that there be no clouds, that there are no luminous windows, lanterns and other lights of the "big city". And also, that there was no moon. The moon in all phases other than the new moon gives a fairly bright light, which significantly overshadows the picture of falling meteors.
We call star falls an astronomical phenomenon, which has the scientific name "meteor shower". A meteor shower occurs when the Earth enters a meteor swarm - there are areas where there are many small bodies, more cosmic dust, but fewer asteroids. But what are these bodies and why are there many of them in these areas?
Meteor swarms are formed during the destruction of comets - complete, when the comet breaks up, or partial, when it continues to exist, but leaves behind a trail of such particles. For the prediction of meteor showers, the reasons why comets are destroyed are not so important, but it is important that meteor swarms approximately coincide with the comet's trajectory and do not fly anywhere far from it. That is why meteor showers are observed at the same time of the year: the Earth makes an annual rotation around the Sun and every year passes through the same areas of meteor swarms that were left from different comets.
Therefore, every year we see the same starfalls. The peculiarity lies only in the fact that the meteor shower does not coincide with the full moon, which will prevent it from being seen.
Of course, not only a fragment of a comet from a meteor swarm can act as a meteor body. Many celestial bodies of the right size and hitting the Earth's atmosphere at the right speed can look like a shooting star. It can be, for example, a single fragment of an asteroid. But such phenomena are poorly predictable, their moment is difficult to catch. Therefore, it is meteor showers that are of interest when the Earth passes through a meteor shower, when you can simply watch the sky and, with a high probability, see a shooting star.
Since ancient times, people have been interested in the starry sky. First stargazers, and later astrologers studied such distant and such inaccessible (for the time being) celestial bodies. And, we must say, they managed to learn a lot. However, their knowledge is not comparable to that of modern scientists, with their high-tech equipment for observation, including powerful telescopes, satellites and interplanetary ships.
Cosmic facts about our solar system known to science today
But if you think that the facts about space are difficult for the majority of the population of the Earth to comprehend, then we at Bemorepanda will now prove the opposite to you, since they can be presented in a very accessible and interesting way. For example, that a person in space can grow several centimeters ...
But we are not going to tell you everything here, but we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the facts about our solar system that we managed to find on the Web. And as a bonus, you will have gorgeous images as an illustration of what has been said.
1. All the planets in our solar system can be placed between the Earth and the Moon
At apogee, when the Moon is farthest from the Earth, the surface-to-surface distance is about 398,000 km.
If we align the planets along their polar axes, their total distance is 364,799 km.
Phil Plait, nasa.gov
2. Sunsets on Mars would look blue to human eyes
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
3. Saturn's moon Titan is the only known place in our solar system other than Earth to have a "liquid cycle"
It is the only other place in the solar system known to have an Earth-like cycle of liquids, raining down from clouds flowing across its surface, filling lakes and seas, and evaporating back into the sky (similar to the water cycle on Earth).
nasa.gov
4. If left untouched, footprints on the moon will remain there for millions of years.
nasa.gov
5. Neptune is the only planet in our solar system not visible to the naked eye, and the first one predicted by mathematics before it was discovered.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
6. Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
7. Neptune's winds can reach speeds of over 2,000 km/h
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
8. You can grow up to 5 centimeters in space
nasa.gov, nasa.gov
9. Space (Karman Line) is only 100 kilometers away from us
science.org, nasa.gov
10. About 13,630 satellites launched into low Earth orbit
About 8850 of these satellites are still in space and about 6700 are still active.
esa.int
11. The Sun is predicted to live just under half its lifespan.
The sun will eventually run out of energy, like all stars.
When it begins to die, the Sun will turn into a red giant star and become so large that it will swallow Mercury and Venus, and possibly the Earth.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
12. Pluto has mountains
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
13. The biggest storm in our solar system: The Great Red Spot is shrinking
hubblesite.org, nasa.gov
14. Uranus' moon Miranda has the strangest surface features seen on the Moon.
It has giant rift canyons, 12 times deeper than the US Grand Canyon, terraced layers and surfaces that appear very old, and others that look much younger.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
15. A six-way jet stream of winds surrounds a huge storm and forms a hexagon at the north pole of Saturn
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
16. The outer atmosphere of the Sun, the corona is hotter than the "surface" of the Sun (photosphere)
The core of the Sun reaches 15 million °C, the photosphere only reaches 5500 °C, while the corona can reach 2 million °C.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
17. Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
18. Venus is the brightest object in Earth's night sky after the Moon
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
19. There are five dwarf planets in our solar system: Pluto, Ceres, Makemake, Haumea and Eris
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
20. Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system - Mount Olympus
It is three times the height of Mount Everest on Earth, and its base is the size of New Mexico.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
21. The rings of Saturn are made up of many small pieces of ice and rocks of various sizes, from dust to the size of mountains.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
22. Jupiter's moon Ganymede is not only the largest moon in our solar system. There is also evidence that it has an underground salt water ocean containing more water than all the water on Earth combined.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
23. Since 1957, there have been about 6250 successful rocket launches.
esa.int, nasa.gov
24. There are over 10,100 tons of space objects in Earth's orbit.
esa.int, nasa.gov
25. If you weigh 40 kg on Earth, you will weigh 94 kg on Jupiter
howthingsfly.si.edu, nasa.gov
26. The Canyon of Mars is 7 times bigger than the Grand Canyon of Earth
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
27. Spaceships have visited all the planets in our solar system.
jpl.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
28. There may be a ninth giant planet in our solar system
Konstantin Batygin, Michael E. Brown, nasa.gov
29. There are over 200 moons in our solar system.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
30. Uranus was the first planet discovered with a telescope
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
31. Asteroids are leftovers from the formation of our solar system.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
32. There are over 130 million space debris.
36,500 space debris larger than 10 cm.
1,000,000 space debris objects ranging in size from over 1 cm to 10 cm.
130 million space debris objects ranging in size from over 1 mm to 1 cm.
esa.int, nasa.gov
33. The temperature on Uranus can drop to -224.2 Husrad Celsius
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
34. Uranus rotates sideways
It rotates at an angle of almost 90 degrees to the plane of its orbit.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
35. Every planet in our solar system has at least some water in different forms.
spacecentre.nz, nasa.gov
36. Mercury is the smallest and closest planet to the Sun in our solar system.
With a radius of 2440 kilometers, Mercury is just over 1/3 the width of the Earth.
With an average distance of 58 million kilometers, Mercury is 0.4 AU from the Sun.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
37. One day on Mercury is about 59 Earth days, and a year on Mercury is 88 Earth days
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
38. The color of Mars is due to the iron-rich dust that covers the surface.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
39. The sun is the largest object in our solar system
To fill the volume of the Sun, you will need 1.3 million Earths.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
40. Here on Earth there are rocks from Mars
jpl.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
41. The solar system is incredibly large
The average distance between the Sun and Pluto is 5,913,520,000 km.
curious.astro.cornell.edu, nasa.gov
42. Winds drive clouds around Venus at a speed of 360 kilometers per hour
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
43. Venus has the hottest surface in our solar system
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
44. The sun makes up 99.8% of the mass of our solar system
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
45. Saturn's moon Iapetus is called the Yin and Yang of Saturn because of its hemisphere.
The front hemisphere has a reflectivity (or albedo) as dark as coal (albedo 0.03-0.05 with a slight reddish tinge), while its rear hemisphere is much brighter at 0.5-0.6.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
46. There are 8 planets in our solar system
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars fall under the category of terrestrial planets, Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, and Uranus and Neptune are ice giants.
skyandtelescope.org, nasa.gov
47. Our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy.
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
48. The sun is about 150 million kilometers from Earth
solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov
49. The moon has no atmosphere
NASA, nasa.gov
50. The average temperature on Mars is -66 degrees Celsius
