|
Some Astronomy Facts
How many astronomy facts are there for all the objects and phenomenon in the entire universe?
Consider that there are somewhere around 1 x 10 ^22 stars in the universe, that's a one followed by
22 zeros. Then consider that many of those stars have planets surrounding them. Then consider
all the moons that orbit the planets, the comets and asteroids, the galaxies these stars form,
the nebulae and black holes and everything else out there. The number of facts and amount of data
is staggering. This article, which presents astronomy facts, certainly won't contain every fact.
But these are interesting facts.
Let's take a look at this subset of astronomy facts – the brightest stars as seen from Earth. That's discounting the Sun which is about 250,000 times closer than the next nearest star. It's so bright as seen from Earth that it washes out all the other stars in the sky during a phenomenon called “daylight.” Keep in mind that in the scale for the magnitudes given, lower numbers are brighter. The sun would be about -26.73, while the full moon is -12.6. With that in mind, here are the top 5.
#5 is Vega, which means eagle or vulture in Arabic. It's about 25 light years away from the Earth, with a magnitude of .03. When looking at these astronomy facts remember that brightest from Earth doesn't mean largest or brightest. The Sun is not the largest or brightest star in the universe or even the galaxy, yet it appears so bright because it is so near compared to other stars.
#4 is Rigel Kentaurus, that's Arabic for foot of the centaur. It's about four light years from Earth with a magnitude of -.01.
At #3, remember this is set in stone as one of the many astronomy facts we have, is Arcturus. The name means guardian of the bear in Greek. This star is 37 light years from us.
Canopus comes in at #2. Of these top five Canopus, a Greek name for the pilot of the vessel Argo made famous in the stories about Jason and the Argonauts, is the brightest. But it's 313 light years from Earth so it's just second on this list as seen from Earth. It has a -.62 magnitude as seen by humans on this planet.
#1 is Sirius, meaning scorching in Greek. It's also called the Dog Star because it's the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (the Big Dog.) It's only 9 light years from Earth. That's second closest of these top five. But from Earth it has a magnitude of -1.44. That makes it easily the brightest star as seen in the night sky.
This information doesn't even scratch the surface of astronomy facts. But it's something to consider next time you look into the sky.
About the Author: Scott Harker is the publisher of several websites including: Emetophobia - Fear of Vomiting, Autism - Break The Silence, Mystic Card Trick, Guide to Niagara Falls, and On The Hook | Fishing Supplies.
Let's take a look at this subset of astronomy facts – the brightest stars as seen from Earth. That's discounting the Sun which is about 250,000 times closer than the next nearest star. It's so bright as seen from Earth that it washes out all the other stars in the sky during a phenomenon called “daylight.” Keep in mind that in the scale for the magnitudes given, lower numbers are brighter. The sun would be about -26.73, while the full moon is -12.6. With that in mind, here are the top 5.
#5 is Vega, which means eagle or vulture in Arabic. It's about 25 light years away from the Earth, with a magnitude of .03. When looking at these astronomy facts remember that brightest from Earth doesn't mean largest or brightest. The Sun is not the largest or brightest star in the universe or even the galaxy, yet it appears so bright because it is so near compared to other stars.
#4 is Rigel Kentaurus, that's Arabic for foot of the centaur. It's about four light years from Earth with a magnitude of -.01.
At #3, remember this is set in stone as one of the many astronomy facts we have, is Arcturus. The name means guardian of the bear in Greek. This star is 37 light years from us.
Canopus comes in at #2. Of these top five Canopus, a Greek name for the pilot of the vessel Argo made famous in the stories about Jason and the Argonauts, is the brightest. But it's 313 light years from Earth so it's just second on this list as seen from Earth. It has a -.62 magnitude as seen by humans on this planet.
#1 is Sirius, meaning scorching in Greek. It's also called the Dog Star because it's the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (the Big Dog.) It's only 9 light years from Earth. That's second closest of these top five. But from Earth it has a magnitude of -1.44. That makes it easily the brightest star as seen in the night sky.
This information doesn't even scratch the surface of astronomy facts. But it's something to consider next time you look into the sky.
About the Author: Scott Harker is the publisher of several websites including: Emetophobia - Fear of Vomiting, Autism - Break The Silence, Mystic Card Trick, Guide to Niagara Falls, and On The Hook | Fishing Supplies.
News About Astronomy
 National Post | Jackpot: astronomers tag Goldilocks planet Register By Richard Chirgwin • Get more from this author While the Kepler mission turns up its ever-growing crop of exoplanets, a group of astronomers has announced an exciting find closer to home: looking towards Scorpius, there's a super-Earth-sized planet ... Astronomers discover fourth planet that could potentially sustain life Second Earth? Astronomers find planet orbiting its star at just the right ... GJ 667Cc: fourth planet that could support life found |
 Discover Magazine (blog) | An astronomer's paradise Discover Magazine (blog) Cerro Paranal, in the high, dry, Atacama desert in Chile, is where some of the best astronomy in the world is done. It's graced with incredibly dark and steady skies, and a view of the southern hemisphere skies that, frankly, makes me jealous. |
 Daily Mail | NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Zooms in on a Magnified Galaxy Clarksville Online (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center); and K. Sharon (Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago) A team of astronomers led by Jane Rigby of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, aimed Hubble at one of the most striking ... Hubble Observes Brightest Magnified Galaxy Get our top stories Hubble Zooms In On Magnified Galaxy |
 Wilkes Barre Times-Leader | History Club and Astronomy Club students from West Side Career and Technology ... Wilkes Barre Times-Leader Students from Miss Kimelewski's History Club and Mr. Bednarek's Astronomy Club from West Side Career and Technology Center recently visited Philadelphia. The students toured the historic Eastern State Penitentiary building, where they viewed the former ... |
 Nature.com (blog) | US astronomers endorse NASA work on European dark energy mission Nature.com (blog) NASA has the blessing of a committee of US astronomers to become a small-percentage partner in Euclid, a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to study dark energy. The National Academies issued a short report today endorsing a deal where $20 million ... Report Endorses NASA's Proposed Contribution to Euclid Mission |
 Catholic News Agency | Vatican astronomer says Big Bang theory in tune with creation history Catholic News Agency The exhibit titled “Stories from another world: The Universe within us and outside us,” will be on display March 10 - July 1 in Pisa, the birthplace of Galileo, the father of modern astronomy. Fr. Funes told CNA at the event that the Big Bang ... |
Google News