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 have been learning English since childhood, firmly remember that London is the capital of Great Britain. You have watched many British TV shows, but this does not mean that you know everything about England. This country still has something to surprise you with!

 

Best facts about England

 

We have collected 50 interesting facts about England, many of which will be unexpected. It will be fantastic to know about this if you live and study in England or are interested in foggy Albion.

 

 

1) Until 1832, only two universities in England were Oxford and Cambridge.

 

2) England is one of the most student countries in the world. With 106 universities and five university colleges, England is among the world's top countries in terms of educational institutions. It is one of the leaders in the number of universities annually included in international rankings.

 

3) About 500,000 foreigners come to study in England every year. According to this indicator, the country is second only to America.

 

4) According to statistics, international students often come to England to study business, engineering, computer science, biomedicine, and law.

 

5) From year to year, London is recognized as the best student city globally according to the authoritative QS Best Student Cities ranking.

 

6) School uniforms still exist in England. It is believed that she disciplines students and maintains a sense of equality in them.

 

7) The English language that we learn from school is nothing more than a mixture of German, Dutch, Danish, French, Latin, and Celtic. And this quite capaciously reflects the influence of all these peoples on the history of the British Isles.

 

8) In total, the inhabitants of England speak 300+ languages.

 

9) And that's not all! Get ready for the fact that you will encounter a variety of English accents in England - Cockney, Liverpool, Scottish, American, Welsh, and even aristocratic English.

 

10) No matter where you go in England, you will never be more than 115 km from the ocean.

 

 

Facts about London

11) Traveling from England to the continent and back is more accessible. An underwater tunnel connects England and France for cars and trains.

 

12) London is a very international city. 25% of its residents are ex-pats born outside the UK.

 

13) The London Underground is known as the oldest in the world. And yet, it is the most expensive to maintain and, at the same time, one of the most unreliable.

 

14) By the way, the London Underground has unique venues for musicians to perform.

 

15) About 80,000 umbrellas are lost on the London Underground every year. Given the changeable weather, this is the most characteristic English accessory!

 

16) By the way, the raincoat was invented by an Englishman, and it was the British were the first to use an umbrella to protect themselves from the rain. Before that, it served mainly for protection from the sun.

 

17) But heavy London rains are more of a myth. The weather here is changeable, but, statistically, more precipitation falls, for example, in Rome and Sydney.

 

18) The City of London is nothing more than a ceremonial county in the center of the British capital. It has its mayor, coat of arms and anthem, and fire and police departments.

 

19) In England, the monarchy is respected. Even a stamp with a portrait of the queen cannot be pasted upside down, which would never occur to anyone!

 

More facts about Queen Elizabeth 

 

20) Also, the Queen of England cannot be sued, and she never had her passport.

 

21) Queen Elizabeth II personally sends every Englishman who turns 100 a greeting card.

 

22) All swans living on the River Thames belong to Queen Elizabeth. The royal family established ownership of all the swans on the river back in the 19th century when they were served at the royal table. Although swans are not eaten in England today, the law has remained unchanged.

 

23) In addition, Queen Elizabeth is the owner of whales, dolphins, and all sturgeon, located in the country's territorial waters.

 

24) Windsor Palace is a special pride of the British crown and nation. It is the oldest and largest castle where people still live.

 

25) By the way, Queen Elizabeth can rightfully be considered the most advanced grandmother globally. The Queen of England sent her first email back in 1976!

 

Facts you didn’t know about England

 

26) Have you heard the English like to line up everywhere? So there is a profession of "standing in line in England." A person will defend any queue for you. His services cost, on average, £20 per hour.

 

27) The British value privacy highly. It is not customary to come to visit without an invitation or ask too personal questions.

 

28) A melody from an advertisement or a movie that gets stuck in the head for a long time is called “earworm” in England.

 

29) The British take 1st place in the world regarding the amount of tea they drink. More than 165 million cups of tea are drunk every day across the UK.

 

30) Great Britain is the only country on the stamps in which the state's name is not indicated. This happened because Great Britain was the first to start using postage stamps.

 

31) In England, they don't believe in omens. More precisely, they believe, but vice versa. For example, a black cat running across the road is considered a good omen here.

 

Facts about animals in England

 

32) The British love the theater, and in particular - musicals. The Theater Royal, Bristol, has been playing Cats since 1766!

 

33) In England, they give birth to pets in agreement with exceptional services, and homeless animals in the country are a rarity.

 

34) The first zoo in the world was opened in England.

 

35) And the fabulous bear cub Winnie the Pooh got his name thanks to a real bear from the London Zoo.

 

36) England is a country with a rich sports history. Here, football, the equestrian field, and rugby got their start.

 

37) The British have a peculiar idea of ​​​​hygiene. Here they can wash all the dirty dishes in one basin (all because of saving water!), And not take off their street shoes in the house or put things on the floor in a public place - in the order of things.

 

Food in England

 

38) Traditional English cuisine is quite rough and straightforward. It has been repeatedly recognized as one of the most tasteless globally.

 

39) For breakfast, many English people eat eggs with sausages, beans, mushrooms, bacon, and not oatmeal.

 

40) There are a lot of Indian restaurants and fast foods in England, and the British already call the Indian "chicken tikka masala" their national dish.

 

41) The British assure that only they can fully understand English humor. It is so subtle, ironic, and specific. Indeed, many foreigners have a problem due to insufficient language knowledge.

 

42) The British love pubs. Most of the country's inhabitants visit the pub several times a week, and some - every day after work.

 

43) A British pub is a place where everyone knows each other. People come here not only to drink but also to chat and learn the latest news. The establishment's owner often stands behind the bar himself, and the regulars treat him with drinks instead of tips at their own expense.

 

Rules in England

 

44) But you can’t get drunk in English pubs. The laws of the country officially prohibit it. We do not advise you to check whether these laws work in practice!

 

45) In England, it is customary to be polite. In a conversation with an Englishman, a lot of "thank you," "please," and "excuse me" do not happen.

 

46) Be prepared because almost nowhere in England there are electrical outlets in the bathrooms. The reason for this is the security measures taken in the country.

 

47) Farming is developed in England, and there are more chickens in the country than inhabitants.

 

48) There are many fantastic festivals and events in England every year - from the Coopershill Cheese Race and the Weird Arts Festival to The Good Life Experience, a return to simple pleasures, and the nostalgic Goodwood Festival for lovers of the 60s.

 

49) All English TV channels have ads, except for the BBC. This is because the viewers themselves pay for the work of this channel. If a family in England decides to get a TV broadcast, they must pay around £145 a year for a license.

 

50) William Shakespeare is known not only for his literary works but also for adding more than 1,700 words to his English dictionary. Among the words that first appear in English in the works of Shakespeare are "gossip," "bedroom," "fashionable," and "alligator." And you thought they were always in English?

 

 

A lot of interesting things are happening around us. Well, really. We can leave the house and see what we never expect, and this is great! It is thanks to such surprises that our life becomes more interesting. And if these moments are also captured, then there is a chance to brighten up not only your own life, but also the lives of others.

 

"I didn't know that camellia petals were so perfect and symmetrical."

 

"I live in Puerto Rico and the locals painted the wall, not forgetting about the dog, which is constantly lying in this place and basking in the sun."

 

"My dog ​​has a paw print on its paw."

 

"My friend's sneakers look like they're screaming."

 

"Walking along one of the trails in the Amazon jungle, we crossed this pillar that marks the equator."

 

"Yesterday I made friends with a bird"

 

"Now I know that a hummingbird chick is the size of a raspberry."

 

"I have not used my bag for 3 years, and when I opened it the other day I found such an apple there."

 

"I was lucky to see a beautiful and rare phenomenon"

 

"My cat looks like it's about to be washed down the sink."

  

"I saw this watch and I just couldn't help but take a picture."

 

"The light reflecting off my makeup bag looks like a nebula."

 

"I went to a grocery store in Peru and found this amazing purple corn."

 

"The sky looked like a gradient this morning."

 

"I found an old set of colored pencils that were attacked by termites, eating all the wood and leaving only the leads."

 

"My dog ​​yawned the very moment I photographed him in front of the graffiti with a dog that looks like him."

 

"My friend's chair looks like a duck with hair."

 

"I raised the pot and saw the root system of this weed."

 

"I was born without fingerprints and toe prints"

 

Now you know that the feet of the Malay bear are similar to human