Astronomy and Space Facts!!!!

[MRSN]

share any Interesting fact you know about Astronomy & Space .I will start off with these 10 interesting facts

1.The Sun is so big that 106 Earths could fit across its diameter and 1,300,000 Earths could fit inside of it.

2.Certain parts of space where 'dark matter' is predominate it is about 1/2 degree above absolute zero.

3.Lightning is about 3 times hotter than our Sun

4.Sunspots are areas on the surface of the Sun that are 3000 degrees cooler than other areas.

5.There is a star, called Betelgeuse, that is 450,000,000 miles in diameter, and the Sun is just a dot compared to it. Now that's really big.

6.Did you know that the Sun actually rotates on an axis, well it does.It takes the Sun 25 days to turn on its axis.

7.Comets are made mostly of frozen gases

8.Saturn's moon Titan has hundreds of times more oil and natural gas than all the known reserves on Earth.

9.A neutron star is the strongest magnet in the universe.

10.Imagine the Sun was massive enough to become a black hole (it isn’t, but let’s pretend for now that it is). Would the Earth go tumbling in, never to be seen again? Actually, it wouldn’t. It would continue to orbit the black hole alongside the other planets. This is because orbit is determined by distance and mass, not size. As it happens, the Sun can’t collapse into a black hole, and has a few billion years of life left.

[MRSN]

[MRSN]

[MRSN]

Journey to the Edge of the Universe

[jeetu]

Watch TV series "The Universe" , its extremely informative.

[jeetu]

Betelgeuse is one of the most identifiable star from earth. Its a red giant star who will most probably go supernova.
After few billion years Sun turn into red giant and it may grow large enough to consume earth.

[asifp]

good stuff.

I would love to know the margin of errors on some of these things. Considering the time periods are based on billions/millions and distances are in millions of light years, wonder how do we know the methods we have within a time frame of lets say 40-50 years are anywhere close to being accurate.

[Hando]

I want to ask PPer this question,

What happens if you reach the end of the universe, what is after it?

[Inzy's Aloo]

I want to ask PPer this question,

What happens if you reach the end of the universe, what is after it?

The beginning.

[MRSN]

I want to ask PPer this question,

What happens if you reach the end of the universe, what is after it?

Universe is expanding like a balloon.There is an end but it is very big but some people say it is infinite. It has no limits.

[MRSN]

Watch TV series "The Universe" , its extremely informative.

yep I love The universe tv series.Its awesome.

[MRSN]

Betelgeuse is one of the most identifiable star from earth. Its a red giant star who will most probably go supernova.
After few billion years Sun turn into red giant and it may grow large enough to consume earth.

It has already gone Supernova but because it is about 640 light years away hence the light just hasn't reached us yet

[MRSN]

Supernova

[GOAT]

This thread makes me feel very, very insignificant

[Looney]

The more i try to get to know the Universe we live in , the more my faith in God is strengthened .

[Robert]

The more i try to get to know the Universe we live in , the more my faith in God is strengthened .

With me it went the other way. The more I learned, the more God faded away.

[Robert]

It has already gone Supernova but because it is about 640 light years away hence the light just hasn't reached us yet

How do we know it went supernova in the last 640 years, then?

[Hari Sombar]

I want to ask PPer this question,

What happens if you reach the end of the universe, what is after it?

its infinate, one of the accepted theories about the end of the universe, (one which stephen hawking also accepts) is that space will keep expanding until objects are too far away from each other to attract and create new objects like stars, therefore expansion continues until the stars die out and then there is just darkness, although there will still be matter, like dark matter.

[Robert]

its infinate, one of the accepted theories about the end of the universe, (one which stephen hawking also accepts) is that space will keep expanding until objects are too far away from each other to attract and create new objects like stars, therefore expansion continues until the stars die out and then there is just darkness, although there will still be matter, like dark matter.

I read that after that, everything will disintegrate into photons eventually, and these will fly apart from each other until the gaps between then are greater than the size the universe is now.... and then no event will ever happen again, and the universe will die.

Makes me sad.

[MRSN]

How do we know it went supernova in the last 640 years, then?

We don't know the exact dates of these events but we just estimate by looking at the light coming from a star,by looking at their colours .We can estimate when the star will go Supernova by by looking at what stage the star is in than comparing it to other stars.Remember A Massive star goes Supernova on the end stages of its life.

[Looney]

With me it went the other way. The more I learned, the more God faded away.

Hmm , well for me it strengthened because a lot of the things that are mentioned in the Qur'an , science only confirms it and gives me a logical and more detailed explanation .It amazes me how much more we still have to learn about ourselves , this world and the whole universe yet we waste our time , energy and money on wars and other stupid stuff

[Yellow Submarine]

This thread makes me feel very, very insignificant

LOL, same here.

[KingKhanWC]

There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth.

Get your head round that.

[jeetu]

Just to give you an Idea , There are atleast 100 billion stars in our Galaxy "Milky Way" and there are atleast 100 billion galaxies in the Universe.

[jeetu]

No one knows for sure how Universe will end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimat...f_the_universe
Many religion have their own views regarding it.
Norse - Big Freeze
Hindu - Big Bounce
Christian/Jews - Big Rip ?
Muslim - Big Crunch ?

[hussnainn]

[Robert]

No one knows for sure how Universe will end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimat...f_the_universe
Many religion have their own views regarding it.
Norse - Big Freeze
Hindu - Big Bounce
Christian/Jews - Big Rip ?
Muslim - Big Crunch ?

I like that.

Looks like the Norse got it right, given current astrophysics thinking....

[MRSN]

The more i try to get to know the Universe we live in , the more my faith in God is strengthened .

same here,My belief in God Almighty has grown stronger.

[Namak_Halaal]

The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but is 400 times closer than the sun.

The result is the perfect eclipse.

A cosmic coincidence? I do not think so.

[MRSN]

Guys must watch this documentary.Its real and very interesting.This documentary is based on first ever space docking in which lives of the astronauts were threatened.
more from wikipedia

Gemini 8 (officially Gemini VIII) was the sixth manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. The mission conducted the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit, but suffered the first critical in-space system failure of a U.S. spacecraft which threatened the lives of the astronauts and required immediate abort of the mission. The crew was returned to earth safely. The only other time this happened was on the flight of Apollo 13.

part 1/4

[Robert]

The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but is 400 times closer than the sun.

The result is the perfect eclipse.

A cosmic coincidence? I do not think so.

Actually neither of those ratios is 400, and they are not equal to each other so a "perfect eclipse" impossible.

You might as well say that eating walnuts is good for the brain because they look similar. Or that chilli peppers shoud be stuffed up the nostrils because they are the same diameter.

I think you are seeking that evidence which to justifies your existing beliefs rather than forming your beliefs on the available evidence.

It amazes me how much more we still have to learn about ourselves , this world and the whole universe yet we waste our time , energy and money on wars and other stupid stuff

Carl Sagan famously opined that all the wars in history have been fought so that one warlord or other could increase marginally his control over what from Pluto would appear as an utterly insignificant blue dot.

[Namak_Halaal]

Actually neither of those ratios is 400, and they are not equal to each other so a "perfect eclipse" impossible.

You might as well say that eating walnuts is good for the brain because they look similar. Or that chilli peppers shoud be stuffed up the nostrils because they are the same diameter.

I think you are seeking that evidence which to justifies your existing beliefs rather than forming your beliefs on the available evidence.

Up to you if you want to dispute NASA:

The Sun is 400 times wider than the moon, but it is also 400 times farther away, so they coincidentally appear to be the same size in our sky. This is what allows us the phenomenal beauty of the total solar eclipse.

http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2006/faq.php

I just do not buy the coincidence part. . . .

[shan]

I think humans have wasted thousands of years but maybe in next 1000 years we will finaly have faster then light aircraft? It seem in next 1000 years human race may finally get somewhere.

[Namak_Halaal]

Our Sun can create chemical elements up to atomic number 70 due to its mass. Any element found on Earth with a higher atomic number comes from a super-nova; for example, Gold.

[Robert]

Up to you if you want to dispute NASA:

The Sun is 400 times wider than the moon, but it is also 400 times farther away, so they coincidentally appear to be the same size in our sky. This is what allows us the phenomenal beauty of the total solar eclipse.

http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2006/faq.php

I just do not buy the coincidence part. . . .

OK, I concede the 400 point, but nevertheless you are still seeking evidence to justify your beliefs instead of the other way round.

[Robert]

I think humans have wasted thousands of years but maybe in next 1000 years we will finaly have faster then light aircraft?

No, your aircraft would increase in mass as it gets closer to light speed, toward infinite mass and you don't have an infinitely powerful engine so you can't do it.

Maybe we will be able to make wormholes by then, though.

[MRSN]

The Moon will be closer to our earth on March 19 .This celestial event only happens every 18 years and some people think it can cause more earthquakes but Scientist think opposite.
Concerns over "super moon"
Worries about connection to earthquakes

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - There are plenty of stories out there about a super moon affecting the Earth in drastic ways.

The internet has been buzzing about whether an upcoming "super moon" will bring more earthquakes to the world.

A super moon is when the moon comes a little closer to earth than normal and this is going to happen on March 19th.

This will make the full moon appear larger from Earth and some people are claiming that this so called "super moon" could have led to the earthquake in Japan and possible future quakes.

Richard Sanderson, an astronomer at the Springfield Museums said that scientists have shown that there's actually no correlation between the distance of the moon and such things as earthquakes. He said there's been many times over the past centuries that the moon has been close during a full moon like this and nothing really bad has happened.

Sanderson said that there has been a proven correlation for earthquakes not between the distance from the Earth to the moon but instead the phase of the moon.


He said during a full moon or a new moon, the moon's gravity and the suns gravity together lead to greater tides in the oceans and a greater pull on the land. This has lead to a very slight increase in earthquake chances due to this pull. But as far as this super moon goes, it will just look a little bigger.

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/concern...ng-earthquakes

[jeetu]

The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but is 400 times closer than the sun.

The result is the perfect eclipse.

A cosmic coincidence? I do not think so.

Its a co-incidence because moon is spiraling out of earth's orbit since its creation although at a very slow rate. We are just in right time.

Another co-incidence involves pole star. We are living in a time when Polaris points to North almost perfectly. That will change in few 1000 years.

[Namak_Halaal]

Yup the moon’s orbit is spiraling at a slow rate, but there is one crucial element here. Our in-depth understanding of the Sun was only possible through the study of its Corona (for example EMP). We cannot observe the Corona because it’s mostly X-ray so the only way to observe it is to block the photosphere and observe the light scattered by electrons – yup you guessed it, with the help of the moon! No moon, no eclipse, no total solar eclipse = next to zero understanding of our sun’s behaviour.

This ‘opportunity’ some how ‘coincides’ with human existence on Earth, meaning when humans are around to appreciate it.

Too much of a coincidence.

[KingKhanWC]

Its a co-incidence because moon is spiraling out of earth's orbit since its creation although at a very slow rate. We are just in right time.

How does that make it a coincedence, it an be easily argued The Creator has set it to coincide with humanity and once there is no humanity it will pull away?

[KingKhanWC]

I'm sure atoms come into this thread.

There are more atoms in a glass of water than there are glasses of water in the oceans of the planet.

[asifp]

Once again I shake my head when I hear numbers such as millions and billiions and light years.

These are all estimates. A margin of error by a few decimal points here and there and billions could become millions.

How can we study the lifecycle of something when things are so far away and so far in the past.

I fully support the research and I fully support the idea that we should try to find out more and more, but sometimes find it very annoying when estimates and theories are stated to be facts.

[Hari Sombar]

Once again I shake my head when I hear numbers such as millions and billiions and light years.

These are all estimates. A margin of error by a few decimal points here and there and billions could become millions.

How can we study the lifecycle of something when things are so far away and so far in the past.

I fully support the research and I fully support the idea that we should try to find out more and more, but sometimes find it very annoying when estimates and theories are stated to be facts.

these theories are not turned into facts the moment one scientist find something. These findings are passed on to numbers of other scientists who check and calculations and they too pass it on. By the time it gets to last person to review it before it is turned into fact, the chance of there being a mistake, no matter how small is minimal. Not only have the calculations to be correct, the theory has to fit in with everything else that relates to it.

[jeetu]

How does that make it a coincedence, it an be easily argued The Creator has set it to coincide with humanity and once there is no humanity it will pull away?

Well that can be said about every co-incidence , God's will.

[Uzzy]

Anyone in the UK seen the super moon? Take a look out of the window and you'll notice that the moon is much closer than normal.

[PakPeace]

Anyone in the UK seen the super moon? Take a look out of the window and you'll notice that the moon is much closer than normal.

wow just did that it does eem close but i din't look yesterday

[PakPeace]

Yup ^

Dates of supermoons between 1950 and 2050

There are approximately 4-6 supermoons annually.[3] The following is a list of past and predicted extreme supermoons.[13][14]
November 10, 1954
November 20, 1972
January 8, 1974
February 26, 1975
December 2, 1990
January 19, 1992
March 8, 1993
January 10, 2005
December 12, 2008
January 30, 2010
March 19, 2011[15]
November 14, 2016
January 2, 2018
January 21, 2023
November 25, 2034
January 13, 2036

[MRSN]

Anyone in the UK seen the super moon? Take a look out of the window and you'll notice that the moon is much closer than normal.

yes lol it was 16% bigger and 30% brighter than usual.

[saad1024]

Our Sun can create chemical elements up to atomic number 70 due to its mass. Any element found on Earth with a higher atomic number comes from a super-nova; for example, Gold.

Can't they also be synthesized in labs or reactors? I mean, we get elements with atomic number greater than 70 in every radioactive reaction/decay...

[jeetu]

Elements higher than Iron are a product of Supernova. Our Solar System is itself a product of Supernova of an earlier star.

[MRSN]

Did you know when you look into space you are looking back in time, when you look at objects in space you are not seeing the objects as they are now but as they wear when the light you are receiving left on it's journey through space..if you are successful at finding M31 galaxy in the sky through telescope etc, the image you are seeing were created two and half million years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD3Nxu-RbvM

when you look at sun, you are actually looking into past by 8 minutes because it takes Sun's light 8 minutes to reach earth..

[TM Riddle]

^ yup knew it already, its in our 12th NCERT biology book

[LegendsXI]

Great thread. Absolutely love the space and mystery related topics. A black hole discussion is required .

[LegendsXI]

Did you know when you look into space you are looking back in time, when you look at objects in space you are not seeing the objects as they are now but as they wear when the light you are receiving left on it's journey through space..if you are successful at finding M31 galaxy in the sky through telescope etc, the image you are seeing were created two and half million years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD3Nxu-RbvM

when you look at sun, you are actually looking into past by 8 minutes because it takes Sun's light 8 minutes to reach earth..

In a different perspective, if the inhabitants of these stars were to view the earth; they would probably be looking at the dinosaurs or prehistoric era.

[coca-cola]

Once again I shake my head when I hear numbers such as millions and billiions and light years.

These are all estimates. A margin of error by a few decimal points here and there and billions could become millions.

How can we study the lifecycle of something when things are so far away and so far in the past.

I fully support the research and I fully support the idea that we should try to find out more and more, but sometimes find it very annoying when estimates and theories are stated to be facts.

scientists don't pull these numbers out of a hat... meticulous mathematical and scientific calculations are involved....

[jaguarjack]

Religious beliefs aside, do you guys think end of this planet Earth is a certain event in the future? If so, which hypothesis, do you think, is the most plausible?

I believe Earth going kaboom is certain and Red Giant theory seems like the theory that makes least assumptions. Of course, humanity will be certainly extinct by that time and probably all life too except for some single cell organisms.

[TM Riddle]

Religious beliefs aside, do you guys think end of this planet Earth is a certain event in the future? If so, which hypothesis, do you think, is the most plausible?

I believe Earth going kaboom is certain and Red Giant theory seems like the theory that makes least assumptions. Of course, humanity will be certainly extinct by that time and probably all life too except for some single cell organisms.

have you read a book called time machine by HG Wells? it explained the ending of earth similar to what you are talking about

[jaguarjack]

have you read a book called time machine by HG Wells? it explained the ending of earth similar to what you are talking about

Only $2.70 on Amazon.. Just ordered it. Thx!

Try Big Bang - The Origin of Universe by Simon Singh, if you haven't read already. That is one of my favorite science books.

[TM Riddle]

Only $2.70 on Amazon.. Just ordered it. Thx!

Try Big Bang - The Origin of Universe by Simon Singh, if you haven't read already. That is one of my favorite science books.

I will , thanks for recommending..

[MRSN]

Neutron stars are extremely dense. A neutron star's density is approximately equivalent to the entire human population condensed to the size of a sugar cube, or 500,000 times the mass of the Earth in a sphere no larger than Brooklyn, United States.

[MRSN]

The moon is actually moving away from Earth at a rate of 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) per year.



more moon facts:

+ Only about 59 percent of the moon's surface is visible to us here on earth.
+ The earth rotates about 1000 mph. By comparison, the moon rotates about 10 mph.

+ If you weigh 120 pounds, you would weigh only 20 pounds on the moon.
+ The moon has no significant atmosphere or clouds.
+ "Moonquakes" are millions of times less powerful than earthquakes.
+ There are no active volcanoes on the moon.
+ It would take 135 days to drive by car (@70 mph) to the moon

The Moon rotates around its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit the Earth - as a result, here from Earth we always see the same side of the Moon. This side of the Moon that is permanently facing Earth is called the 'Near side of the Moon'

[TM Riddle]

great thread MRSN!

[TM Riddle]

apparently universe will become cooler as it will expand leading to Big freeze where it will eventually become too cold to sustain life

[Jo_Don]

Brings me back to one of my old favourites:

http://htwins.net/scale2/

[MRSN]

great thread MRSN!

thank you...just love astronomy so much..it's just as interesting as 's sixes..

[MRSN]

Galaxies and other stellar objects through telescope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1TXvFIzuns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cglKLdUEqyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzob7Q-6xac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3C4DOvsKrw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqLoS5N-7BY

[LethalSami]

This stunning video shows just how small our world is.

This is awesome, click here:

http://www.wimp.com/smallworld/

[MRSN]

A timelapse view of the milkyway from Chile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEHm-XUHwNw

[Down2Earth]

Titan is the most exciting aspect of this amazing galaxy. I can't wait for the day when we land there. Hopefully in my lifetime

[MRSN]

Amazing time-lapse images of sky, Milky Way & Earth from outer space
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxF2nXr6PUE

[MRSN]

Milky Way, Stars and Aurora Borealis Over Planet Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In84Uer3g90

Outer space from Space Station
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiGeqsGjhoY

[Gilly]

share any Interesting fact you know about Astronomy & Space .I will start off with these 10 interesting facts


8.Saturn's moon Titan has hundreds of times more oil and natural gas than all the known reserves on Earth.

If this is true then it proves that life existed on other planets before earth. Oil is made from plant matter.

[MRSN]

Cosmic Journeys : Voyage to Pandora: First Interstellar Space Flight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPjXxKpM4DM
Pandora is the idyllic blue world featured in the movie Avatar. Its location is a real place: Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our Sun and the most likely destination for our first journey beyond the solar system.

Remarkably, it's anti-matter, the science fiction fuel of choice that could take us there. Normally, it's only created in powerful jets that roar out of black holes. We can now produce small quantities in Earth-bound particle colliders. Will we journey out only to plunder other worlds? Or will we come in peace? The answer may depend on how we see Earth at that time in the distant future.

The year is 2154. Our planet has been ruined by environmental catastrophe. In the movie Avatar, greedy prospectors from Earth descend on the world of an innocent hunter-gatherer people called the Na'vi.

Their home is a lush moon far beyond our solar system called Pandora. Could such a place exist? And could our technology... and our appetite for exploration... one day send us hurtling out to reach it?

In fact, the supposed site of this fictional solar system is one of our most likely interstellar targets, until a better destination turns up. Pandora orbits a fictional gas planet called Polyphemus. Its home is a real place... Alpha Centauri... the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus.

At 4.37 light years away, it's part of the closest star system to our sun. Alpha Centauri is actually two stars, A and B, one slightly larger and more luminous than our own sun, the other slightly smaller.

The two stars orbit one other, swinging in as close as Saturn is to our Sun... then back out to the distance of Pluto. This means that any outer planets in this system... anything beyond, say, the orbit of Mars... would likely have been pulled away by the companion and flung out into space.

For this reason, Alpha Centauri was not high on planet hunters' lists... until they began studying a star 45 light years away called "Gamma Cephei." It has a small companion star that goes around it every 76 years. Now, it seems... it also has at least one planet.

That world is about the size of Jupiter, and it has planet hunters excited. Perhaps two-thirds of all the stars in our galaxy are in so-called binary relationships. That means there could be many more planets in our galaxy that astronomers once assumed.

At least three teams are now conducting long-term studies of Alpha Centauri... searching for slight wobbles in the light of each companion star that could indicate the presence of planets. If they find a planet that passes in front of one of the stars, astronomers will begin intensive studies to find out what it's like.

One of their most promising tools will be the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2014 or 2015. From a position a million miles away from Earth, it will deploy a sun shield the size of a tennis court, and a mirror over 21 feet wide. The largest space telescope ever built, it will offer an extraordinary new window into potential solar systems like Alpha Centauri.

With its infrared light detectors, this telescope will be able to discern the chemical composition of a planet's atmosphere... and perhaps whether it harbors a moon like Pandora.

One prominent planet hunter predicted that if a habitable world is found at Alpha Centauri, the planning for a space mission would begin immediately. Here's that star duo as seen by the Cassini spacecraft just above the rings of Saturn.

To actually get to this pair of stairs, you have to travel as far as the orbit of Saturn, then go another 30,000 times further. Put another way, if the distance to Alpha Centauri is the equivalent of New York to Chicago, then Saturn would be just... one meter away.

So far, the immense distances of space have not stopped us from launching missions into deep space. In 1977, the twin Voyager spacecraft were each sent on their way aboard Titan 3 Centaur rockets. After a series of gravitational assists from the giant outer planets, the spacecraft are now flying out of the solar system at about 40,000 miles per hour.

They are moving so quickly that they could whip around the Earth in just 45 minutes, twice as fast as the International Space Station. Voyager I has now traveled over 110 astronomical units. That's 110 times the distance from Earth to the Sun... or about 10 billion miles. But don't hold your breath.

If it was headed in the right direction, it would need another 73,000 years to travel the 273,000 astronomical units to Alpha Centauri. When it comes to space travel, we've yet to realize the dream forged by rocketeers a century ago

[MRSN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rPCmY77gEg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zidTu5SjH3o

The Voyager program is an American scientific program that launched two unmanned space missions, the probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. These were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable alignment of the planets during the late 1970s. Although they were designated officially to study just the planetary systems of Jupiter and Saturn, the space probes were able to continue their mission into the outer solar system, and they are expected to push through the heliosheath in deep space.

These two space probes were built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and they were paid for by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which also paid for their launchings from Cape Canaveral, Florida, their tracking, and everything else concerning the space probes.

As of 2012, Voyager 1 is the farthest manmade object that has ever been sent from the Earth. On 15 June 2012, scientists at NASA reported that Voyager 1 might be very close to entering interstellar space and becoming the first manmade object to leave the Solar System.[1][2]

Both of these scientific missions into outer space have gathered large amounts of data about the gas giants of the solar system, and their orbiting satellites, about which little had been previously known. In addition, the trajectories of the two spacecraft have been used to place limits on the existence of any hypothetical trans-Neptunian planets.

some pictures taken by Voyager 1 and 2

Long Way From HomeCredit: NASAThis picture of a crescent-shaped Earth and moon -- the first of its kind ever taken by a spacecraft -- was recorded Sept. 18, 1977, by NASA's Voyager 2 when it was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth. Because the Earth is many times brighter than the moon, the moon was artificially brightened so that both bodies would show clearly in the prints.




Jupiter as Seen by Voyager 1Credit: NASA/JPLVoyager 1 took photos of Jupiter and two of its satellites (Io, left, and Europa). The new study says that moons orbiting a gas giant planet greater than 8 Jupiter masses could help astronomers detect a rogue planet.


Magnetic bubbles in heliosheathCredit: NASAOld and new views of the heliosheath. Red and blue spirals are the gracefully curving magnetic field lines of orthodox models. New data from Voyager add a magnetic froth (inset) to the mix.



Pictures of Neptune's Moon TritonCredit: NASA/JPL/Universities Space Research Association/Lunar & Planetary InstituteThis view of the volcanic plains of Neptune's moon Triton was made from topographic mapping of images obtained by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft during its August 1989 flyby.


30-Year Saturn Odyssey: From NASA’s Voyagers to Cassini TodayCredit: NASA/JPL and NASA/JPL/SSINASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft revealed the kinks in one of Saturn's narrowest rings. The Voyager 1 image (left) was released on Nov. 12, 1980. The closer view of the F ring (right) was obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on April 13, 2005. The moon Pandora is to the left (exterior) of the ring and the moon Prometheus is to the right (interior) of the ring.


http://i.space.com/images/i/000/002/...osphere_02.jpg
Solar System Sails Sideways Through Milky WayCredit: NASAThis image shows the locations of Voyagers 1 and 2. Voyager 1 is traveling a lot and has crossed into the heliosheath, the region where interstellar gas and solar wind start to mix.


Jupiter's Great Red Spot as Seen by VoyagerCredit: NASA/JPL-CaltechClose-up of Jupiter's Great Red Spot as seen by a Voyager spacecraft.

[QazzarFan]

Voyager I is the 1st man made object that is about to cross our solar system or have already crossed.

- It was launched in 1977 (most of us here weren't even born at that time)
- It took 35 yrs for it to go across our solar system!
- It is powered by Plutonium
- It will stop communicating around the year 2025 and will be lost in space
- $865 million has been spent on this project so far
- 11,000 work years has been devoted to this project (1/3 of man hours spent to build the pyramid)
- Total of 5 trillion bits of scientific data has been returned to Earth by Voyager
- It used the enormous gravity of Jupiter to sling itself across towards Saturn
- The resolution of the Voyager narrow-angle television cameras is sharp enough to read a newspaper headline at a distance of 1 km.
- Voyager noticed one of the volcanoes on Jupiter erupting sulfur to the heights of 30x Mt. Everest.
- Traveling at speeds of over 35,000 miles per hour, it will take the Voyager nearly 40,000 years, and it would have traveled a distance of about two light years which is half the distance to Proxima Centauri which is our nearest star and is 4 light years away.


Fascinating isn't it?
-

[QazzarFan]

This is an actual pic of storms on the planet Saturn. Absolutely fascinating!

[MRSN]

In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an actual difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses.

An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at a different rate when compared to a second observer's own equally accurate clocks. This effect arises neither from technical aspects of the clocks nor from the fact that signals need time to propagate, but from the nature of spacetime itself.


Time dilation explains why two working clocks will report different times after different accelerations. For example, ISS astronauts return from missions having aged slightly less than they would have been if they had remained on Earth, and GPS satellites work because they adjust for similar bending of spacetime to coordinate with systems on earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_dilation

[MRSN]

The International Space Station circles the Earth once every 90 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnQ21IQnnU4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsc80evqJ88
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8rHarp1GEE

[MRSN]

Living On The ISS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSTp2KOxlOM

[MRSN]

Olympus Mons- the highest volcano in the solar system




Olympus Mons (latin for Mount Olympus) and three other volcanoes form a group called Tharsis volcanic province and are found on Mars. The name ”Olympus” meaning the house of Zeus and of gods is very suitable as Mount Olympus is the highest volcano and mountain the entire solar system, it’ s height (25 km- 82,00 ft ) being three times that of Mount Everest. It has been known to astronomers since the 19th century long before Mariner 9 went to the orbit around Mars in 1971. The volcano is located in Mars’ western hemisphere and it is a shield volcano similar in morphology to the large volcanoes making up the Islands of Hawaii. Thousands of highly fluid basaltic lava flows that poured out from the vents are responsible for the incredible size of Mount Olympus in addition to the fact that Mars lacks mobile tectonic plates- it’s lithosphere is thick and immobile. Thus a volcano born on Mars remains fixed on the mantle hotspot rather than being carried away as happens with the volcanoes in Hawaii permitting the outflow of an enormous amount of lava and an extraordinary growth.