Space Facts: 21 Most Astonishing Facts About Space

There is no limit to the beyondness of space, it is an unlimited gigantic vacuum. Space has hidden millions of mysteries inside itself. Here in this article, we have mentioned the 21 most astonishing facts about space. These space facts are pieces of information about astronomy.

Facts about Space

1# Dark energy creates space

Scientists believe space has been made from something! Most scientists and astrophysicist believes that Dark energy creates space. The amount of dark energy in the whole universe is around 68% of the total mass-energy composition.

Also Read:- Dark Matter and Dark Energy

2# Space is almost empty

Space or vacuum is a void thing that itself contains nothing. The physical things only cover the area of the space. But in general, space is filled with physical matter and has some mixed or individual molecules of gases. The density of outer space (beyond earth’s atmosphere) is quite low.

3# Space between galaxies has an average of one atom per cubic meter

There is a lot of matter inside of a galaxy but still, around 95% of the galaxy contains void space. On the other hand, the space between the two galaxies is quite void. It would be really astonishing to know that “on average, there is only one atom per cubic meter between the space of two galaxies”. The void space between galaxies is called intergalactic space.

4# Light can take more than 3 years to cross just our solar system

Our solar system is just not about the sun with its 8 planets and some moons, it is much beyond. The outer layer of our solar system is known as the Oort cloud region. And it is much further for us. Just for an astonishing fact, light can take more than 3 years to cross the outer layer of the Oort cloud region.

5# Saturn can float on water

Planet Saturn is the least dense planet of our solar system. The average density of the planet Saturn (0.687 gm/cm³) is lower than the average density of water (almost 1 gm/cm³). So if we consider a very large water system, then due to the lower density planet Saturn can float on it.

6# Most stars have a lifespan of more than the present age of the universe

The age of the universe is around 13.8 billion years, whereas most of the stars live longer than 15 billion years. During their lifespan, star changes their properties such as shape, size, and luminosity from one kind to another kind.

According to scientists, when the life of red giant stars ends it develops black dwarf stars. But there is no black dwarf that existed because it needs more time to get born.

7# Expansion of universe/space is faster than the speed of light

In 1925 an American astronomer Edwin Hubble found that distant galaxies move faster from us compared to near galaxies. He observed that the universe is just not expanding, even its expansion is accelerating.

According to scientists, the diameter of the observable universe is around 93 billion light-years. So in the age of 13.8 billion years of the universe, it has expanded around 93 billion light-years. Isn’t it one of the amazing facts about space?

8# Space is around 13.8 billion years old

Many of the theories have been given by scientists regarding the origin and evolution of the Universe. And the most accepted theory is ‘big bang’. According to the big bang theory, our Space/Universe is around 13.8 billion years old.

9# Everything is within the space

Every particle, atom, matter, moon, planet, star, nebula, galaxy, and everything is within space. All mass and energy composition exist because of space.

10# It has almost 10²² stars

According to scientists, on average every galaxy has almost 100 billion stars. And there are almost 100 billion galaxies. So the total number of stars present in space would be around 10²².

Also Read:- All different types of stars and life cycle

11# Outer space is completely silent

In the atmosphere of the earth, we can listen to the audible range of sounds easily. But there is no sound in the space. As sound needs a medium to travel and space is almost a vacuum. Two astronauts can not listen to each other while talking, no matter how close they are. That’s why astronauts need instruments to talk in space.

12# Higgs field gives mass to objects in space

The discovery of the Higgs boson (god particles) and Higgs field is really amazing from the modern physics point of view. According to Scientists, when an elementary particle comes in contact with the Higgs field then the particle gets mass. So in this way, every matter in this universe gets mass due to the Higgs field.

13# The number of protons in the observable universe is around 10⁸⁰

In our observable Universe, the total number of protons is around 10⁸⁰ and this number is called the “Eddington Number”. According to British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington there is the same number of electrons present in space.

14# Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the gigantic ball of gases

There are eight planets in our solar system. The first four (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) is called inner planets and they are solid in nature. Whereas the other four planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are called outer planets and made of gases.

There is no solid on these giant planets. We can assume these planets a gigantic balls of gases and can not stand on the surface of it. Because we can not stand on gases.

15# There are more stars in space than grains of sand on earth

Here on earth, many different types of deserts are present according to their size and location. And each dessert must have billions of sand grains. According to an estimation, more stars are there in space compared to the grains of sand on earth. The estimated number of stars in the observable universe is around 10²²^.

16# Our Sun orbits the milky way galaxy with a very high velocity

We all know our home earth orbits around the sun, but most people don’t know that our sun also orbits something. The Sun orbits the center of our milky way galaxy. Its orbital speed is very high, almost 220 km/sec.

17# You can wet-burp in space

Maybe you have listened to this fact about space “You can not burp in space”. But it is not right. Actually, we can burp in space, but it will not be like a normal burp.

While burping on earth we exhale gases in the atmosphere. But due to zero gravity in space, if we burp some mixture of gases and liquids can come outside. So basically it would be a ‘wet-burp’ and as an astronaut, it will not be pleasant.

18# ISS sees around 16 sunrise and sunsets per day

International Space Station (ISS) completes one orbit around our earth almost in 90 minutes. So in 24 hours, it completes almost 16 orbits. So if there is an astronaut on ISS, then he can see 16 sunrise and sunsets per day.

{Read about: How ISS orbit around the Earth?}

19# ISS travels almost 10 times faster than a bullet on earth

The international space station (ISS) is traveling so fast around the earth. It travels almost 28000 km/hr. Whereas an average speed of a bullet is around 2800 km/hr in the earth’s atmosphere. So if we compare the speed of the ISS and a bullet then ISS is 10 times faster than a bullet.

20# Sun is losing almost 4,000,000,000 kg of mass per second

Due to the nuclear fusion reaction, our sun produces light and energy. According to an estimation, our sun is losing almost 4 billion mass per second to produce such an amount of light and energy. (Just for a fun fact, what is your mass? maybe 50 kg to 90 kg! Just imagine in one second our sun losing 4,000,000,000 kg of mass).

21# Universe temperature was around 10³² K just after the big bang

According to scientists, the temperature of the universe was around 10³² K, at the time of the big bang. Almost 100 seconds later after the big bang, it cools down and reaches around 10⁹ K. Whereas the present average temperature of space/universe is approximately 2.73 K.

These were the 21 Most Astonishing Facts About Space. I hope you have liked these space facts. Comment which Space fact you liked most.

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