Favorite?

[spacelover123]

What is your favorite bit of Space Science/Astronomy fact(s)? You learn something everyday, so why not amaze the people you know with interesting facts? Share your facts in the comments, and if you have a fact that you believe is in-correct, you can quote it and put your own ideas, or start a new forum.

Can't wait to read all of the new facts.

 

[Saiph]

I remember starting at thread like this a while ago...lets see if I can't remember some of my contributions, I'll post them as time goes on, instead of one big chunk (assuming I could remember them all).


There are vast clouds of drinkable alcohol (and the non drinkable kinds too) in space, earth masses of stuff light years across. This shouldn't be to surprosing as alcohol is just a simple organic molecule, but it's a pretty interesting thing to consider.

 

[spacelover123]

There are vast clouds of drinkable alcohol (and the non drinkable kinds too) in space, earth masses of stuff light years across. This shouldn't be to surprosing as alcohol is just a simple organic molecule, but it's a pretty interesting thing to consider.

That's very interesting. I wonder if that will soon be the newest drink among the young people. Space Alcohol? I wonder what the name will become if it is produced.

 

[DrRocket]

There are vast clouds of drinkable alcohol (and the non drinkable kinds too) in space, earth masses of stuff light years across. This shouldn't be to surprosing as alcohol is just a simple organic molecule, but it's a pretty interesting thing to consider.

That's very interesting. I wonder if that will soon be the newest drink among the young people. Space Alcohol? I wonder what the name will become if it is produced.

ethanol

 

[derekmcd]

A pulsar rotating over 700 times per second. Mind boggling...

 

[CalliArcale]

What is your favorite bit of Space Science/Astronomy fact(s)? You learn something everyday, so why not amaze the people you know with interesting facts? Share your facts in the comments, and if you have a fact that you believe is in-correct, you can quote it and put your own ideas, or start a new forum.

Can't wait to read all of the new facts.

Oooh, hard to pick a favorite! Let's see . . . .

Well, how about Lagrange points? These are invisible points in space where the gravitational attraction of two bodies balances out. There are five, two of which are stable over long periods of time.

L1: directly between the two bodies, but closer to the smaller one; SOHO is one of several spacecraft orbiting the Sun-Earth L1 point, giving it an uninterrupted view of the Sun, and the ability to sample particles about an hour before they reach Earth

L2: on the same line as L1, but on the other side of the smaller body; the WMAP spacecraft orbits the Sun-Earth L2 point, giving it a perfect vantage point for studying the rest of the Universe in microwave

L3: on the same line as L1 and L2 but on the other side of the larger body (so, on the same orbit as the smaller body); this spot is always hidden from the smaller body, which makes it almost completely useless for spacecraft; some have occasionally speculated about a hidden planet at the Sun-Earth L3 point, which we would never be able to see from Earth; however, we'd see its gravitational influence on other objects, so scientists are pretty sure it's not real (plus, this point is not stable)

L4 and L5: on the smaller body's orbit, but 60 degrees ahead of/behind it; these points *are* long-term stable, and in fact natural objects occupy the Sun-Mars and Sun-Jupiter L4 and L5 points, and there are also moons of Saturn which occupy the L4 and L5 positions of larger moons (eg Telesto is at the Saturn-Tethys L4 point). Such objects are called "trojan companions" after a class of asteroids which have this relationship with Jupiter.

Lagrange points can also be exploited as gravitational "keyholes", where your spacecraft can pass between the gravitational influence of two bodies with relative ease. It was this process that let the Apollo 14 S-IVB booster pass out of Earth orbit and then back again (whereupon it got temporarily classed as a new asteroid, before astronomers figured out what it really was) and some trajectory designers suggest that these points could be used to explore the entire solar system on the cheap (though you'd have to awfully patient).

 

[crazyeddie]

What is your favorite bit of Space Science/Astronomy fact(s)?

Mine is probably that famous quote from the late Carl Sagan, that "we are all made of star stuff". I find the fact that all of the atoms in our bodies and in the everyday world around us, other than hydrogen and helium, were created in the crucible of exploding stars, to be fascinating to contemplate.