UFO Secret and Mysteries
Welcome
Login

Outer Space & Universe

Date

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)

 

  • 03:03 Barren, Blasted Mercury Revealed In New Fly Over | Time Lapse

    Barren, Blasted Mercury Revealed In New Fly Over | Time Lapse

    by shub Added 914 Views / 0 Likes

    On 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

  • 02:13 X-Ray Pulsar Pair Caught Morphing | Video

    X-Ray Pulsar Pair Caught Morphing | Video

    by shub Added 829 Views / 0 Likes

    It's like watching siblings tussle: Astronomers have finally witnessed a long-sought example of pulsar evolution. Designated PSR J1824-2452I, this X-ray Binary is being spun up to millisecond speeds by a tiny companion, 1/5th the Sun's mass. Read more abo

  • 00:50 Massive X-Flare Tops Sun's Active Week

    Massive X-Flare Tops Sun's Active Week

    by shub Added 883 Views / 0 Likes

    The same sunspot to unleash a M.9 flare just a few days ago erupted again with the strongest of flares, X type, on January 27, 2012. Fortunately, the Earth was spared the full brunt of the solar shockwave, but a radiation storm may still be imminent.

  • 01:14 Galactic Black Hole Eats Asteroids For Breakfast -- Really

    Galactic Black Hole Eats Asteroids For Breakfast -- Really

    by shub Added 880 Views / 0 Likes

    X-Ray flares recorded by the Chandra Observatory suggest asteroids and comets are being violently torn apart by the super-massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

  • 03:46 Lego Space Shuttle Soars To Edge of Space | Video

    Lego Space Shuttle Soars To Edge of Space | Video

    by shub Added 994 Views / 0 Likes

    Raul Oaida launched the Lego model 3367 attached to a helium balloon from central Germany and it reached a maximum altitude of nearly 115,000 Feet. For more about Raul go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bluQ4eOeBwo .

  • 00:49 Comet's Tail Ripped Off By Sun's Fury

    Comet's Tail Ripped Off By Sun's Fury

    by shub Added 949 Views / 0 Likes

    NASA's STEREO A satellite captured Comet Encke's tail being torn off by a coronal mass ejection in 2007. Magnetic field interactions are thought to be the culprit behind the comet losing its tail. Credit: NASA / Music: Atom Strange www.atomstrange.com

  • 00:41 Scary Sunspot: Massive Fireworks Rock the Sun

    Scary Sunspot: Massive Fireworks Rock the Sun

    by shub Added 820 Views / 0 Likes

    An X-class solar flare and and a Coronal Mass Ejection through the eyes of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and STEREO spacecraft on November 3rd, 2011. One of the largest sunspots in years drives this solar activity. Credit: NASA / SDO / STEREO / Music:

  • 00:38 Biggest Solar Eruption of 2011 - Multiple Satellite Views

    Biggest Solar Eruption of 2011 - Multiple Satellite Views

    by shub Added 890 Views / 0 Likes

    On June 7th, 2011 the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) A&B satellites captured the solar violence. The dramatic show the force of the ensuing coronal mass ejection is highlighted. Credit: SPACE.com / NA

  • 00:54 Sun's Half Million Mile Spit Fire

    Sun's Half Million Mile Spit Fire

    by shub Added 850 Views / 0 Likes

    On November 14, 2011, an extremely long filament (about 466,000 miles) stemming from an eruption on the Sun snapped its tail. The imagery was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and music by Atom Strange. Credit: NASA, SDO, SPACE.com, Music: Ato

  • 01:09 Discovery Launch, Camera on Rocket Motor

    Discovery Launch, Camera on Rocket Motor

    by shub Added 772 Views / 0 Likes

    Amazing views captured by a camera mounted on the solid rocket motor of the space shuttle Discovery; from lift-off through rocket separation to splashdown in the ocean. Credits: NASA, Music: Atom Strange - http://www.atomstrange.com/ Mash-mix: SPACE.com

  • 00:58 Lick of Flame: Solar Flare Channels Gene Simmons?

    Lick of Flame: Solar Flare Channels Gene Simmons?

    by shub Added 834 Views / 0 Likes

    Tongues of 60,000 degree plasma flick out and curl back into the Sun in this 13 hour time-lapse movie of extreme ultra-violet light. Hot licks in the soundtrack provided by Atom Strange. Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory / Music by Atom Strange

  • 00:49 Hellfire Sisters: Sun Blasts Twin Flares

    Hellfire Sisters: Sun Blasts Twin Flares

    by shub Added 832 Views / 0 Likes

    A double whammy of coronal mass ejections occurred on our star, less than 2 hours apart, on August 3rd. Solar winds may carry these super-heated particles towards Earth; a glancing blow causing auroras and possibly damaging satellites.

  • 01:18 Space Station Spotted Crossing Sunspot

    Space Station Spotted Crossing Sunspot

    by shub Added 808 Views / 0 Likes

    Merely a bug in the face of our solar mammoth, the international space station was captured through the eyes of telescopes using a Canon Digital Rebel XT for still photography and a Phillips ToUcam Pro II for video. Snapped in Minnesota on 7/30/2011.

  • 01:06 Finding Castaway Planets -- No, NOT Earth Destroyer Nibiru

    Finding Castaway Planets -- No, NOT Earth Destroyer Nibiru

    by shub Added 851 Views / 0 Likes

    Free-floating Jupiter size planets are fairly common. Astronomers use a neat trick of Einstein's math to find them. And, no, there aren't any free-range monster-worlds lurking nearby. Credit: SPACE.com/NASA/ESA/Music: Atom Strange www.atomstrange.com

  • 01:27 Mercury's Weak Shield No Match For Solar Wind

    Mercury's Weak Shield No Match For Solar Wind

    by shub Added 857 Views / 0 Likes

    The planet closest to the Sun has a magnetosphere like the Earth, but at its poles, the Sun's powerful force takes it toll by super charging sodium and oxygen particles and blasting them into space. NASA's MESSENGER probe weathers the storm. Credit: SPACE

  • 01:02 Hell Unleashed: Sun Spits Fire in Close-Up

    Hell Unleashed: Sun Spits Fire in Close-Up

    by shub Added 837 Views / 0 Likes

    Watch as fiery solar material crashes back to the surface in this new, high-res video of the June 7, 2011 eruption. The Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded this explosive event.

  • 01:47 Strange Spun-Up Sunspot Shifts Its Shape

    Strange Spun-Up Sunspot Shifts Its Shape

    by shub Added 722 Views / 0 Likes

    Sunspot 1271 has been changing form over the past 72 hours, possibly a pre-cursor to a M-Class solar flare that could pose a threat to Earth. Includes Solar Dynamic Observatory imagery time-lapsed from August 22-24, 2011. Editor: Steve Spaleta

  • 01:07 Tatooine Found? -- Planet With Twin Suns Discovered

    Tatooine Found? -- Planet With Twin Suns Discovered

    by shub Added 853 Views / 0 Likes

    Scientists using the orbiting Kepler Telecope have detected a planet transiting across the face of twin suns. Kepler-16b is about the mass of Saturn and has a cool climate, lying just outside the "habitable zone" where water can be liquid.

  • 01:30 Black Hole Caught Killing Star (And Eating It For Lunch)

    Black Hole Caught Killing Star (And Eating It For Lunch)

    by shub Added 923 Views / 0 Likes

    A 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

  • 00:53 Incoming! Sun's Fury Unleashed and Earthbound

    Incoming! Sun's Fury Unleashed and Earthbound

    by shub Added 813 Views / 0 Likes

    On January 19th, 2012, the Sun produced an M3-class solar flare and the ensuing coronal mass ejection was pointed towards Earth. Fierce geomagnetic storms are possible when it reaches the planet on January 21st.

RSS