Lesser Known Facts About Astronomy

Astronomy makes for one of the most engaging subjects. The world of planets and stars is bound to leave anyone amused. Although, man has been studying astronomy for many years now, there are still various facts about the subject that remain relatively unknown. Let us take a look at a few of them.

Talking about the lesser known facts on astronomy, the first thing that deserves a mention is that you see barely 5% of the total matter that universe encompasses. The remaining matter, better known as the dark matter remains invisible or hidden from the human eyes. The same is the case with cholesterol which barely comes to notice till the time sufferer goes for a cholesterol screening test.

It’s an accepted fact that sun is one astronomical body which forms the main source of earth′s energy. Nevertheless, many of us are oblivious to the amount of energy that sun has in store within itself. Sun releases enormous energy which can easily amount to energy dissipated by billions of nuclear bombs on per second basis.

We always assume that temperature of the planets in the solar system is dependent on their closeness to the sun. So, we believe that Mercury must be the hottest of all planets. Though it might appear awkward, it’s true that Mercury’s temperature can sink to -280 degrees F. This is because the planet lacks atmosphere and therefore is incapable of capturing heat. This makes the side away from the sun tremendously cold.

On the other hand, Venus which is relatively faraway from the sun is warmer. This is simply because of the fact that the atmosphere of Venus is much thicker, which traps the heat. As a consequence, Venus tends to be warmer.

Whenever we are asked about the inventor of the telescope, we always credit it to Galileo Galilei. But, the fact is that Galileo used the tool to study the stars first. Historians and researchers believe that it was the invention of Johannes Lippershey, a Dutch eyeglass maker. You can try and use the telescope to observe various heavenly bodies including the moon.

We are commonly fascinated by the comets. These comets are ordinarily tiny dirt particles which fall into the earth′s atmosphere. Whenever these particles pass through the earth′s orbit, they leave traces of dust. These particles tend to get heated when they move about in the atmosphere. This forms streaks in the night sky which seem to be like the tail of a star, therefore the name shooting star.

If these facts have taken you by surprise, then you could think about dwelling into the world of astronomy further.

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