From the Sun’s superhuman strength to leaving a permanent mark on the Moon, six fascinating facts about space:
The Sun’s Staggering Strength
Despite its serene appearance when viewed from Earth, the energy produced from the Sun is so strong that every second its core releases the equivalent of 100 billion nuclear bombs.
The Skies: A Visual History Textbook
The next time you’re cloud watching, ponder this: by studying the skies, you are essentially staring into history. Why? The light you presently enjoy travels from distant stars and galaxies takes hundreds, thousands and sometimes millions of years to reach us.
Bizarre Weather
While Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, its temperatures can reach a biting -280 degrees Fahrenheit as Mercury lacks the atmospheric pressure necessary to trap heat. Venus, on the other hand, has a thick atmosphere to trap heat and is markedly hotter than Mercury, despite being farther away from the sun.
A Permanent Foot On The Moon
If you are ever lucky or wealthy enough to gallivant to the moon, you can expect your presence to remain much longer than anticipated. As there is no air or wind on the moon, your footprints are likely to last forever (barring a meteoric collision, of course).
A Treasure Hunter’s Dream: The Diamond Star
In 2004, astronomers discovered a star made entirely of diamonds. The crystallized white dwarf measures over 2,400 miles across and is composed of 10 billion trillion trillion carats. Unfortunately for treasure hunters, though, it is also 50 light years from Earth.
Grow By Leaving The Planet
If you consider yourself “vertically challenged,” you should consider becoming an astronaut. The path toward realizing said career is a long one, but since the lack of gravity in space allows for the elongation of the spine, you would grow two inches while floating in the Milky Way.
