The Universe Flashcards
(26 cards)
How old is the universe?
The Universe is 13.7 billion years old. If you think that is amazing, perhaps equally remarkable is the fact that we know this to better than 1% precision.
What is pulling the universe apart?
While dark energy is thought to be the strange force that is pulling the cosmos apart at ever-increasing speeds, it remains one of the greatest mysteries in science because its detection remains elusive to scientists.
How wide is the known universe?
Current estimates as with regards to the size of the Universe pegs it at a width of 150 billion light years across and rapidly expanding.
What composes most of the universe?
All the stars, galaxies, and black holes in the universe only compose about 5% of its mass. As crazy as it sounds, the other 95% is unaccounted for. Scientists decided to label this mystery material “dark matter” and to this day they are still not sure where or what it is.
What is the alcoholic space cloud?
For those of you considering opening your own pubs, there is probably no place better than Sagittarius B. Although it is 26,000 light years away this interstellar cloud of gas and dust contains over a billion billion billion liters of vinyl alcohol. Okay, so its not really drinkible but it is a very important organic compound that is critical to the existence of life.
What is project A119?
In the late 1950′s, by way of something labeled Project A119 the United States decided it would be a good idea to launch a nuclear missile at the moon. Why? Evidently they felt it would give them a leg up in the Space Race. Fortunately, however, the plan was never executed.
What is unique about Venus’ orbit?
Strangely enough Venus completes an entire orbit around the sun before it manages to turn on its axis once. This means that its day is actually longer than its year and in Venusian time, World War II ended only 56 days ago.
What is outer space cold welding?
This is a phenomenon used to describe the fact that whenever two pieces of metal in outerspace touch each other, they are more or less permanently stuck together. While welding usually requires heat, in this case the vacuum of space does the trick, hence the the name.
How much space junk is there around the world?
Earth does, however, have over 8,000 objects orbiting around it. Most of these would be classified as “space junk” or debris left over from spacecraft and missions in the past.
How long does sunlight take to reach earth?
Approximately 8 minutes.
How far away is the sun from earth?
Approximately 93 million miles.
What is the universal speed limit?
As a result of the aforementioned fact that light cannot exceed 186,000 miles per second, it would follow that nothing can, which is exactly why this has come to be known as the universal speed limit.
What can escape a black hole?
In order to break free from any gravitational field you have to be traveling faster than something known as escape velocity. On Earth spacecraft achieve this by reaching a speed of about 7 miles per second. On some collapsed stars though, they would have to reach a speed faster than 186,000 miles per second which is more than the universal speed limit, meaning nothing – not even light – could escape.
What is the theory for the creation of the moon?
The leading theory for how the Moon was created is this: an object about the size of Mars smashed into Earth early in our planet’s history, creating a bunch of debris that circled our planet. The debris came from both the Earth and the object, and over time the smaller bits stuck together and formed the Moon that we see today.
What side of the moon faces the earth?
The Moon keeps the same side towards Earth. It’s not because of shyness about its backside; it’s more a story about the Earth’s gravity. The Moon used to rotate at a different rate than it orbited around Earth, but over time our planet tugged at different parts of the Moon. Over time, more of the Moon’s mass shifted to our side of its body and its rotation became locked to its revolution.
How long does a full day on the moon last?
A full day on the moon, from one sunrise to the next, lasts about 29.5 Earth days on average.
Is the moon moving away from us?
The moon is moving away from us by 1.48 in a year.
Why are solar eclipses so rare?
The beautiful symmetry of a total solar eclipse happens because —by pure chance— the sun is 400 times larger than the moon, but is also 400 times farther from Earth, making the two bodies appear the exact same size in the sky.
How large is the moon?
Our moon is bigger than Pluto and 1/4 the diameter of Earth.
What is the gravity difference of the moon?
Your weight on the moon is 16.5% of your weight on earth.
What is the link between Osama Bin Laden and the Moon?
Sending a man to the Moon and finding Osama Bin Laden cost the US government about the same amount of time and money: 10 years and $100 billion.
How much does a space suit cost?
A space suit costs US$12 million.
Can you cry in space?
You can’t cry in space because your tears won’t ever fall.
How expensive is the international space station?
The International Space Station is the most expensive object ever built, at US$150 billion.
