Random and interesting astronomy facts

Posts : 95 Join date : 2011-08-23 Age : 36

I think it would be interesting to see what random facts people know.

Write your interesting facts one per post below. We'll see if we can get atleast 5 a day Wink

Posts : 95 Join date : 2011-08-23 Age : 36

Because of lower gravity, a person who weighs 100kg on earth would only weigh 38kg on the surface of Mars.

Admin Posts : 219 Join date : 2010-07-22 Age : 33

If two pieces of metal touch in space, they become permanently stuck together

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Uranus was originally called George’s Star

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The Sun loses up to a billion kilograms a second due to solar winds Very Happy

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A car travelling at 100mph would take 29 million years to reach the nearest star outside of our solar system.

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The light hitting the earth right now is 30 thousand years old

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The moon is drifting away from Earth

Every year the moon moves about 3.8cm further away from the Earth. This is caused by tidal effects. Consequently, the earth is slowing in rotation by about 0.002 seconds per day per century. Scientists do not know how the moon was created, but the generally accepted theory suggests that a large Mars sized object hit the earth causing the Moon to splinter off.

Posts : 95 Join date : 2011-08-23 Age : 36

We are moving through space at the rate of 530km a second

Our Galaxy – the Milky Way is spinning at a rate of 225 kilometers per second. In addition, the galaxy is travelling through space at the rate of 305 kilometers per second. This means that we are traveling at a total speed of 530 kilometers (330 miles) per second. That means that in one minute you are about 19 thousand kilometers away from where you were.

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If you put Saturn in water it would float

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Any free-moving liquid in outer space will form itself into a sphere, because of its surface tension.

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Astronaut Neil Armstrong (the first man on the moon) first stepped on the moon with his left foot.

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The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust.

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Only 55% of Americans know that the sun is a star.

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There are two golf balls sitting on the moon. Laughing

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It would take more than 150 years to drive a car to the sun.

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One pinhead of the sun's energy is enough to kill a person at a distance of 160 kilometers.

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Sound doesn't travel in space.

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Summer on Uranus lasts for 21 years. sunny

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Jupiter is bigger than all the other planets combined Smile

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The Space Shuttle main engine weighs 1/7th as much as a train engine but delivers as much horsepower as 39 locomotives. Now that's fast!

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There are approximately 3,500 astronomers in the U.S. - but over 15,000 astrologers. Neutral

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Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

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Today's top fuel dragsters take off with more force than the space shuttle.

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The volume of the Earth's moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean.

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