Outer Space & Universe
Outer Space & Universe
Space, also known as outer space, is the near-vacuum between celestial bodies. It is where everything (all of the planets, stars, galaxies and other objects) is found.
On Earth, space begins at the Kármán line (100 km above sea level). This is where Earth's atmosphere is said to stop and outer space begins. This is not a firm boundary but is a convention used by scientists and diplomats.
Items in space are free to move back and forth; up and down; and left and right. These three dimensions are what make 3D space. Items also move forward through time, which is sometimes called the fourth dimension.
The majority of space contains very little matter and so most of it is a vacuum. Scientists do not know how big space is but we do know that space is extremely big, and is always expanding.
According to the big bang theory, all matter and energy in the Universe was compressed into a very small space. Then it exploded and started expanding. Space is still growing in size today; this means the distance from one galaxy to distant galaxies is getting longer.
Gravity is the force that keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth and the planets in orbit around the Sun. Gravity can stretch and bend space similar to how a heavy ball placed on a stretched sheet of rubber will cause the rubber to stretch. The scientist who discovered that space can bend is named Albert Einstein. How gravity bends space is part of his theory of general relativity.
Astronauts, Cosmonauts, Taikonauts and Spationauts
An astronaut is any person who is trained by NASA to travel and perform tasks in space. Although the space traveler may not necessarily be a United States citizen, each astronaut does go through a rigorous training regiment by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Other space travelers go by other names then astronaut depending on their country of origin.
In the United States, astronaut is derived from the Greek words ástron (star) and nautis (sailor). While, in Russia, a space traveler goes by the name космонавт (English: cosmonaut), which is derived from the Greek words kosmos (universe) and nautis (sailor). Westerners call a space traveler from China a taikonaut, based on the 1998 writings of Chiew Lee Yik and Chen Lan where the term tàikōng (great emptiness), Chinese for “space”. In China, the term yuháng yuán (universe navigator) is used for space traveler.
Only the United States of America (United States), Russia (earlier, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), and the People’s Republic of China (China) have sent manned spacecraft into space. Other countries have assisted these countries by sending their own space travelers on space missions. For instance, a French space traveler is called a spationaut (from the French word spationaute), which is derived from the Latin spatium (space) and Greek nautis (sailor). (plural in Greek nautes = sailors)
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Galaxy Merger Tails Sprout Dwarfs | Animation
Added 931 Views / 0 LikesGalaxy Merger Tails Sprout Dwarfs | Animation
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DANGER! WTF? Temperatures dropped to ZERO off California coast for NO REASON
Added 929 Views / 0 LikesDANGER! WTF? Temperatures dropped to ZERO off California coast for NO REASON
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Fast Moving Galaxy Leaves Behind A Trail Of Stars | Video
Added 926 Views / 0 LikesAs spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 zooms through the super hot gas of the Norma cluster, much of it's own gas is pulled away in a process called 'ram pressure stripping. The threads of gas left behind give birth to bright young stars, seen here in blue.
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How To Barf, Puke, Vomit In Space | Video
Added 925 Views / 0 LikesHow do you upchuck if there is no up or down? ISS commander Chris Hadfield explains what astronauts do if they have to vomit. -- Life in Space: Astronaut Chris Hadfield's Video Guide: http://goo.gl/fdgcgU
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Black Hole Caught Killing Star (And Eating It For Lunch)
Added 923 Views / 0 LikesA supermassive black hole has been apprehended in the act of devouring a star. In March 2011, NASA's SWIFT satellite saw intense, mysterious gamma ray bursts. Now scientists have figured out what happened a long time ago in that galaxy far, far awa
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Whirlpool Galaxy Hosts Black Holes Orbiting Sun-Like Stars | Video
Added 921 Views / 0 LikesWhirlpool Galaxy Hosts Black Holes Orbiting Sun-Like Stars | Video
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Top 5 Science & Astronomy Breakthroughs in 2014 according to Accuweather
Added 918 Views / 0 LikesTop 5 Science & Astronomy Breakthroughs in 2014 according to Accuweather
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The Big Nibiru Nasa Google Sky Monolith Wormwood Winged Planet X Reveal!
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Double Trouble Sunspot Flares Again - Multiple Wavelengths Video
Added 915 Views / 0 LikesDouble Trouble Sunspot Flares Again - Multiple Wavelengths Video
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Barren, Blasted Mercury Revealed In New Fly Over | Time Lapse
Added 914 Views / 0 LikesOn 4 October 2013, NASA acquired 560+ images from the MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury. Hundreds of miles of scorched, asteroid impacted surface have been compiled and set to the 'HI-FI SCI-FI' sounds of Atom Strange. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins Unive
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Giant Planet Forming Solar System Discovered By Japanese Astronomers | Animation
Added 913 Views / 0 LikesAstronomers from the Osaka University and Ibaraki University have found evidence of dust particles colliding to form protoplanets around a young star named HD142527. It was observed using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
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Jupiter Trojan asteroid has unusual comet-like tail - Orbit animation + Image
Added 913 Views / 0 LikesWatch Jupiter Trojan asteroid 2019 LD2;s orbit the sun for 25 years in this orbit animation. New imagery from the University of Hawaiʻi's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) reveals that it has an unusual comet-like tail. Credit: Space.c
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03:01
James Webb Space Telescope Facts You Need To Know | Video
Added 912 Views / 0 LikesJames Webb Space Telescope Facts You Need To Know | Video
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X-Class Flare, Earth directed CME, Solar Tsunamis & Sun strangeness
Added 911 Views / 0 LikesX-Class Flare, Earth directed CME, Solar Tsunamis & Sun strangeness
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WOW! Earth Directed Coronal Mass Ejection & Quadruple Solar Activity!
Added 910 Views / 0 LikesWOW! Earth Directed Coronal Mass Ejection & Quadruple Solar Activity!
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05:40
Jupiter and the Gemini Twins Shine In March 2014 Skywatching | Video
Added 908 Views / 0 LikesThe bright stars and star clusters of the constellation Gemini are on display along with post sunset sightings of Jupiter and Mars. Saturn and Venus make early morning appearances.
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01:24
Most Distant Galaxy: New Candidate Found | Video
Added 907 Views / 0 LikesLikely most distant object known, galaxy MACS0647-JD was recently found by the Great Observatories - Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, looking back to 420 million years after the Big Bang in the region between Ursa Major and Minor.
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Galaxy Cluster's 'Colossal Arms' Revealed In X-Rays | Video
Added 906 Views / 0 LikesThe Coma Cluster of galaxies' hot gas arms, spanning at least a 1/2 million light years, have been unveiled by combining images from the Chandra and XMM-Newton x-ray Observatories. They're a byproduct of smaller galaxies merging with the cluster.
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Spot Planets and a Meteor Shower In July 2014 | Skywatching Video
Added 905 Views / 0 LikesSpot Planets and a Meteor Shower In July 2014 | Skywatching Video
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Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies Collision Simulated | Video
Added 904 Views / 0 LikesUsing data from the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have developed this simulation of the head-on collision of our Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy. Estimated to occur in 4 billion years.