Image: earthandspaceexpeditioncenter.org
Space is a great and mysterious place filled with wonders that scientists and astronomers cannot cease to be astonished by. The universe is definitely full of incredible secrets to be discovered by children who are lovers of the unknown. Gigantic planets, glowing stars, or floating rocks all present surprises in space. Here are ten incredible facts about space for kids that will change the way kids look at the night sky.
Many kids think of the Sun as just a big ball of light in the sky, but it is really a star, just like countless others we see in the night sky. The Sun is the closest star to the Earth and the centre of our solar system. It's a massive, hot ball of gas, largely hydrogen and helium, and this source of energy heats our planet to make it teeming with life.
If there were no sun, the earth would be just a very dark, freezing dead place on which nothing alive could ever hope to exist. It looks as much larger because of its much nearer position to us than other stars. If we could travel far away into space, our Sun would look like just another tiny twinkling star.
One of the funniest facts that exist about space for kids is that it has no sound at all. On Earth, we listen to birds chirping, cars beeping, or people talking and all these occur because there exists air on Earth to carry these waves. However, in space, there is no existence of air for carrying waves and hence there's no sound produced.
That means, if astronauts ever shout at one another outside of their spacecraft, they wouldn't hear anything! Rather, they make use of the radios and the special devices within the helmets to converse with each other. The silence itself makes space a more mysterious place and eerie; it's more like a science-fiction movie.
Other planets work differently when it comes to time, and Venus has one of the weirdest time measurements in our solar system. The length of time it takes for a planet to spin on its axis is called a day, while the length of time it takes for a planet to orbit the Sun is called a year.
On Venus, one full rotation takes about 243 Earth days, while it only takes 225 Earth days for Venus to round the Sun. Thus, a day on Venus will be longer than a year! Just imagine having your birthday before the day ended. But that's not all; Venus spins in a clockwise direction, unlike most planets, making its movements even weirder.
This largest planet in our solar system houses one of the most famous storms in the Great Red Spot. It is a gigantic swirling storm raging on Jupiter for at least 350 years. It is so huge that it's over twice as big as Earth.
We could stand in the middle if it were feasible to be inside since it would create wind blowing by hundreds of miles per hour. Storms that happen within the Earth normally fizzle over time; Jupiter, on the other hand, experienced the same tempest for three hundred years.
One of the most astounding and entertaining facts about space for children is that the cosmos is so vast that we can't even count the number of stars it has. According to scientists, there are millions or perhaps billions of stars in each of the estimated 100 billion galaxies in the universe.
The number of stars, when added all together, is unimaginable. The cosmos contains more stars than all the sand grains on all of Earth's beaches and deserts combined!
On Earth, we are used to water droplets in the rain, but in space, it could be much different. Some planets and moons have alien rain. Take, for instance, the planet HD 189733b, where scientists believe it rains molten glass falling sideways due to the large winds.
Precipitation in the form of sparkling rain is thought to fall from the sky on Saturn and Jupiter in the form of storms transforming carbon into diamonds.
The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth and has been revolving around our planet for billions of years. Did you know that the Moon is gradually moving away from Earth? This means the Moon drifts 1.5 inches every year farther from us.
Scientists believe it has been so for millions of years and will be that way for millions of years more. While this movement is too slow for us to notice, it could affect our planet's tides and the way the Earth spins in the far future.
Suggested reading: Space Dust: Origins, Composition, and Its Role in Space
Although the Sun is large and all-powerful, it will not be eternally so. The current predictions by scientists are that in about 5 billion years, this Sun will exhaust the fuel that sustains its shining. When this fuel is exhausted, it will swell into a much larger red star called a red giant.
It could gobble up the nearest planets to it, such as Mercury and Venus, while it may even ingest Earth! By then, humans may have already discovered new places to inhabit in space.
If humans ever find a way to move to another planet, Mars should be one of the best destinations, and part of the reason is that its day is the same as on our planet. Just one day on Mars, which is called "sol," will last about 24 hours and 39 minutes which is just several minutes longer than a day here on Earth.
This implies that if the people were ever to inhabit Mars, they wouldn't need much adjustment for the length of the day. A year on Mars is, however much longer; it takes 687 Earth days because Mars needs nearly twice as much time as Earth to orbit around the Sun.
Some of the strangest objects in space are neutron stars. They occur when a star, which had exploded in a supernova, has left behind the core, now extremely dense. The stars are so packed with matter that a tiny piece would weigh unbelievably heavy.
Take a sugar-cube-sized piece of a neutron star; it would weigh like a mountain! This is because the gravity of a neutron star squeezes its matter into an incredibly small space.
Also read: Space Exploration History and Prospects: Looking Ahead
One of the exciting things to read about is space, which just has mystery and surprise. Everything is new and exciting and to be discovered, from the enormous storms on Jupiter to the gems falling from Saturn for the kids. There are never-ending marvels and exciting things in the universe as the more we explore the more marvelous the facts we find. Each part of space, whether it is planets, moons, or stars, has secrets that will never cease to amaze us!
This content was created by AI