neutron star. Neutron originals Composition of neutron stars

A beautiful space spinning top could one day destroy the Earth with deadly rays, scientists report.

Unlike the Star Wars Death Star, which needed to get close to a planet to blow it up, this blazing spiral is capable of burning worlds thousands of light-years away, much like the Death Galaxy already described on our website.

"I loved this spiral because of its beauty, but now looking at it, I can't help but feel like I'm looking down the barrel of a gun," said researcher Peter Tuthill, an astronomer at the University of Sydney.

At the heart of this fiery cosmic top are two hot, bright stars circling each other. In such mutual rotation flashes of flowing gas burst from the surface of the stars and collide in the intermediate space, gradually intertwining and twisting the orbits of stars into rotating spirals.

A sequence of 11 images, combined and colorized, shows a spinning top formed by the double star Wolf-Raet 104. The images were taken in near-infrared by the Keck telescope. Peter Tuthill, University of Sydney.

Short circuit

Yula, called WR 104, was discovered eight years ago in the constellation Sagittarius. It circles "every eight months, with the precision of a cosmic chronometer," says Tuthill.

Both heavy stars in WR 104 will one day explode as a supernova. However, one of the two stars is a highly unstable Wolf-Rae type star, which is in the last known phase of the life of heavy stars before going supernova.

"Astronomers think Wolf-Rae stars are ticking bombs," explains Tuthill. "This star's 'fuse' is almost - astronomically speaking - blown, and it could explode at any time within the next few hundred thousand years."

When Wolf Rae goes supernova, it “could throw a huge gamma ray in our direction,” says Tuthill. “And if such a gamma ray explosion occurs, we would really not want the Earth to get in its way.”

Since the initial blast wave will move at the speed of light, nothing can warn of its approach.

In the line of fire

Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions known to us in the universe. In times ranging from a few milliseconds to a minute or more, they can release as much energy as our Sun in its entire 10 billion years of existence.

But the most eerie thing about this yule is that we see it as a near-perfect spiral, according to latest pictures the Keck telescope in Hawaii. “Thus, we can only see a binary system when we are practically on its axis,” explains Tuthill.

To our greatest regret, the emission of gamma rays occurs directly along the axis of the system. In fact, if a gamma ray release ever occurs, our planet could be right in the line of fire.

"It's the first object we know of that can fire gamma rays at us," says astrophysicist Adrian Melott of the University of Kansas at Laurence, who was not involved in the study. "And the distance to the system is frighteningly close."

Yula is about 8,000 light-years from Earth, about a quarter of the way to the center of the Milky Way galaxy. While that seems like a decent distance, "earlier studies have shown that a gamma-ray burst could be devastating to life on Earth - if we're not lucky enough to get in its way - and at that distance," says Tuthill.

Possible Scenario

Although the spinning wheel cannot blow the Earth to pieces like the Death Star and Star Wars - at least not from a distance of 8000 light years - it can lead to mass destruction and even the complete extinction of life, in forms known to us, on our planet.

Gamma rays can't penetrate Earth's atmosphere deep enough to burn the soil, but they can chemically alter the stratosphere. Melot calculated that if the WR 104 fired a burst of about 10 seconds at us, the gamma rays would deprive us of 25 percent of the ozone layer that protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays. In comparison, the human-induced thinning of the ozone layer, which created "ozone holes" over the polar regions, reduced the ozone layer by only 3-4 percent.

“Things will be very bad,” says Melot. Everything will start to die. The food chain can collapse in the oceans, there can be an agricultural crisis and famine.”

The release of gamma rays can also lead to sun-dark fog and acid rain. However, the distance of 8,000 years is “too long for the dimming to be noticeable,” Melot said. - I would say, in general, there will be less sunlight by 1-2 percent. The climate may get a little colder, but it should not reach a catastrophic ice age.”

The danger of cosmic rays

What is unknown about gamma rays is how many particles they spew out as cosmic rays.

“Typically, gamma ray bursts occur so far away from us that the magnetic fields of the universe pull off any cosmic rays that we might observe, but if the gamma ray burst occurs relatively close, all high-energy particles will rush through the magnetic field of the galaxy and hit us,” Melot says. “Their energy will be so high that they will arrive almost simultaneously with the light flux.”

“That part of the Earth that turns out to be facing the flow of gamma rays will experience something similar to that located not far from nuclear explosion; all organisms can get sick with radiation sickness, Melot adds. Moreover, cosmic rays can exacerbate the effect of gamma rays on the atmosphere. But we simply don't know how many cosmic rays gamma rays emanate, so we can't assess the severity of the danger."

It is also not clear how wide the flow of energy released by the burst of gamma rays will be. But in any case, the cone of destruction emanating from the spinning top will reach several hundred square light-years before it reaches the Earth, according to Melot's calculations. Tuthill, on the other hand, states that "no one can fly a spaceship far enough not to hit the beam if it actually fires in our direction."

Fictional "Death Star" from "Star Wars"

Don't worry

Nevertheless, Tunhill thinks that the top may be quite safe for us.

“There are too many uncertainties,” he explains. “The radiation can pass by without causing us any harm if we are not exactly on the axis, and besides, no one is completely sure that stars like WR 104 are able to cause such a powerful burst of gamma radiation.

Future research should focus on whether WR 104 is indeed aimed at Earth and how supernova birth results in gamma ray bursts.

Melot and others have also speculated that gamma ray showers could have caused a mass extinction of species on Earth. But when it comes to whether the whirligig poses a real threat to us, Melot notes: "I'd rather be worried about global warming."

Back in 1932, the young Soviet theoretical physicist Lev Davidovich Landau (1908-1968) concluded that superdense neutron stars exist in the Universe. Imagine that a star the size of our Sun would shrink to a size of several tens of kilometers, and its matter would turn into neutrons - this is a neutron star.

As theoretical calculations show, stars with a core mass more than 1.2 times solar mass, after the exhaustion of nuclear fuel, they explode and with great speed reset the failures of the outer shells. And the inner layers of the exploded star, which are no longer hindered by gas pressure, fall to the center under the influence of gravitational forces. In a few seconds, the volume of the star decreases by 1015 times! As a result of the monstrous gravitational compression, free electrons are pressed into the nuclei of atoms, as it were. They combine with protons and neutralize their charge to form neutrons. Deprived electric charge, neutrons under the load of the overlying layers begin to approach each other rapidly. But the pressure of the degenerate neutron gas stops further compression. A neutron star appears, almost entirely composed of neutrons. Its dimensions are about 20 km, and the density in the depths reaches 1 billion tons/cm3, that is, it is close to the density atomic nucleus.

So, a neutron star is like a giant nucleus of an atom, supersaturated with neutrons. Only unlike the atomic nucleus, neutrons are held not by intranuclear forces, but by gravitational ones. According to calculations, such a star cools rapidly, and within a few thousand years that have elapsed after its formation, the temperature of its surface should drop to 1 million K, which is also confirmed by measurements made in space. Of course, in itself this temperature is still very high (170 times higher than the temperature of the surface of the Sun), but since the neutron star is composed exclusively dense matter, then its melting temperature is much higher than 1 million K. As a result, the surface of neutron stars must be ... solid! Although such stars have a hot, but solid crust, the strength of which is many times greater than the strength of steel.

The force of gravity on the surface of a neutron star is so great that if a person still managed to reach the surface of an unusual star, he would be crushed by its monstrous attraction to the thickness of the trace that remains on an envelope from a postal item.

In the summer of 1967, a graduate student at the University of Cambridge (England), Jocelina Bell, received very strange radio signals. They came in short pulses exactly every 1.33730113 seconds. The exceptionally high accuracy of the radio pulses led me to think: are these signals being sent by representatives of civilization to the mind?

However, over the next few years, many similar objects with fast pulsating radio emission were found in the sky. They were called pulsars, that is, pulsating stars.

When radio telescopes were aimed at the Crab Nebula, a pulsar with a period of 0.033 seconds was also found at its center. With the development of extra-atmospheric observations, it was found that it also emits X-ray pulses, and X-ray radiation is the main one and is several times stronger than all other radiations.

Soon, researchers realized that the reason for the strict periodicity of pulsars is the rapid rotation of some special stars. But such short periods of pulsations, which range from 1.6 milliseconds to 5 seconds, can be explained by the rapid rotation of only very small and very dense stars ( big star centrifugal forces will inevitably break!). And if so, then pulsars are nothing but neutron stars!

But why neutron stars inherent in such a rapid rotation? Recall: an exotic star is born as a result of a strong compression of a huge luminary. Therefore, in accordance with the principle of conservation of angular momentum, the speed of rotation of the star must increase sharply, and the rotation period must decrease. In addition, the neutron star is still strongly magnetized. tension magnetic field on its surface is a trillion (1012) times greater than the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field! A powerful magnetic field is also the result of a strong compression of a star - a decrease in its surface and a thickening of magnetic lines of force. However, the true source of activity of pulsars (neutron stars) is not the magnetic field itself, ci is the rotational energy of the star. And losing energy to electromagnetic and corpuscular radiation, pulsars gradually slow down their rotation.

If radio pulsars are single neutron stars, then X-ray pulsars are components of binary systems. Since the gravitational force on the surface of a neutron star is billions of heavens than on the Sun, it "draws on itself" the gas of a neighboring (ordinary) star. Particles of gas are pushed onto a neutron star at high speed, heated up when they hit its surface and emit X-rays. A neutron star can become a source of X-rays even if it "wanders" and a cloud of interstellar gas.

What is the mechanism of neutron star pulsation made up of? It should not be thought that the star is simply pulsating. The case is quite different. As already mentioned, a pulsar is a rapidly rotating neutron star. On its surface, apparently, there is an active region in the form of a "hot spot", which emits a narrow, strictly directed beam of radio waves. And at that moment, when that beam is directed towards the earthly observer, the latter will mark the radiation impulse. In other words, a neutron star is like a radio beacon, and the period of its pulsation is determined by the period of rotation of this "beacon". Based on such a model, one can understand why, in a number of cases, at the site of a supernova explosion, where the pulsar must certainly be, it was not detected. Only those pulsars are observed whose radiation is successfully oriented with respect to the Earth.

1. The mass of the Sun is 99.86% of the mass of the entire solar system, the remaining 0.14% are planets and asteroids.

2. The magnetic field is so powerful that it enriches the magnetic field of our planet with billions of watts every day.

3. The largest basin in the solar system, formed as a result of a collision with a space object, is located. This is "Caloris" (Caloris Basin), whose diameter is 1,550 km. The collision was so strong that the shock wave passed through the entire planet, drastically changing its appearance.

4. Solar substance the size of a pinhead, placed in the atmosphere of our planet, will begin to absorb oxygen at an incredible speed and in a split second will destroy all life within a radius of 160 kilometers.

5. 1 Plutonian year is 248 Earth years. This means that while Pluto makes only one complete revolution around the Sun, the Earth manages to make 248.

6. Things are even more interesting with Venus, 1 day on which lasts 243 Earth days, and the year is only 225.

7. Martian volcano "Olympus" (Olympus Mons) is the largest in the solar system. Its length is more than 600 km, and its height is 27 km, while the height of the high point on our planet, the peak of Mount Everest, reaches only 8.5 km.

8. An explosion (flash) of a supernova is accompanied by the release of a gigantic amount of energy. In the first 10 seconds, a supernova exploding produces more energy than in 10 billion years, and in a short period of time produces more energy than all objects in the galaxy combined (excluding other exploding supernovas).
The brightness of such stars easily outshines the luminosity of the galaxies in which they flared up.

9. Tiny neutron stars, whose diameter does not exceed 10 km, weigh as much as the Sun (recall fact No. 1). The force of gravity on these astronomical objects is extremely high and if, hypothetically, an astronaut lands on it, then his body weight will increase by about one million tons.

10. On February 5, 1843, astronomers discovered a comet, which was given the name "Great" (aka the March comet, C / 1843 D1 and 1843 I). Flying nearby in March of the same year, she ‘drawn’ the sky in two with her tail, the length of which reached 800 million kilometers.
Earthlings watched the tail trailing the Great Comet for more than a month, until, on April 19, 1983, it completely disappeared from the sky.

11. The energy of the sun's rays that warms us now originated in the core of the Sun more than 30,000 million years ago - most of this time it took her to overcome the dense shell heavenly body and only 8 minutes to reach the surface of our planet.

12. Majority heavy elements contained in your body (such as calcium, iron and carbon) are the by-products of the explosion of a group of supernovae that began the formation of the solar system.

13. Researchers from Harvard University found that 0.67% of all rocks on Earth are of origin.

14. The density of 5.6846 × 1026-kilogram Saturn is so low that if we were able to place it in water, it would float on the very surface.

15. Saturn's moon Io recorded ~400 active volcanoes. The speed of emissions of sulfur and sulfur dioxide during the eruption can exceed 1 km/s, and the height of the streams can reach 500 km.

16. Contrary to popular belief, space is not a complete vacuum, but close enough to it, because. There is at least 1 atom per 88 gallons of cosmic matter (and as we know, there are no atoms or molecules in a vacuum).

17. Venus is the only planet in the solar system that rotates counterclockwise. There are several theoretical justifications for this. Some astronomers believe that this is the fate of all planets with a dense atmosphere, which first slows down and then twists. heavenly body in the opposite direction from the initial circulation, while others suggest that the cause was the fall of a group of large asteroids to the surface.

18. Since the beginning of 1957 (the year the first artificial satellite"Sputnik-1"), humanity managed to literally seed the orbit of our planet with a variety of satellites, but only one of them was lucky enough to repeat the "fate of the Titanic". In 1993, the satellite "Olympus" (Olympus), owned by the European Space Agency (European Space Agency), was destroyed in a collision with an asteroid.

19. The largest meteorite that has fallen to Earth is considered to be the 2.7 meter Hoba discovered in Namibia. weighs 60 tons and is 86% iron, making it the largest piece of naturally occurring iron on Earth.

20. considered the most cold planet solar system. Its surface is covered with a thick crust of ice, and the temperature drops to -200 0C. Ice on Pluto has a completely different structure than on Earth and is several times stronger than steel.

21. Official scientific theory says that a person can survive in open space without a space suit for 90 seconds, if you immediately exhale all the air from the lungs.
If a small amount of gases remains in the lungs, they will begin to expand with the subsequent formation of air bubbles, which, if released into the blood, will lead to embolism and inevitable death. If the lungs are filled with gases, then they will simply burst.
After 10-15 seconds of being in outer space, the water in the human body will turn into steam, and the moisture in the mouth and before the eyes will begin to boil. As a result of this, soft tissues and muscles will swell, which will lead to complete immobilization.
This will be followed by loss of vision, icing of the nasal cavity and larynx, blue skin, which in addition will suffer from severe sunburn.
The most interesting thing is that the next 90 seconds the brain will still live and the heart will beat.
In theory, if during the first 90 seconds an unlucky cosmonaut tormented in outer space is placed in a pressure chamber, he will get off with only superficial injuries and a slight fright.

22. The weight of our planet is a variable value. Scientists have found that every year the Earth recovers by ~40,160 tons and dumps ~96,600 tons, thus losing 56,440 tons.

23. Earth's gravity compresses the human spine, so when an astronaut hits, he grows by about 5.08 cm.
At the same time, his heart contracts, decreasing in volume and pumping less blood. This is the body's response to an increase in blood volume that requires less pressure to circulate normally.

24. In space, tightly compressed metal parts spontaneously weld. This occurs as a result of the absence of oxides on their surfaces, the enrichment of which occurs only in an oxygen-containing environment ( good example such an environment can serve earth atmosphere). For this reason, NASA National Administration US Aeronautics and Research outer space(Eng. National Aeronautics and Space Administration) - an agency owned by the US federal government, reporting directly to the Vice President of the United States and funded 100% from the state budget, responsible for civil space program countries. All images and videos obtained by NASA and its affiliates, including those from numerous telescopes and interferometers, are published in the public domain and may be freely copied. handle all metal parts spacecraft oxidizing materials.

25. Between the planet and its satellite, the effect of tidal acceleration occurs, which is characterized by a slowdown in the rotation of the planet around its own axis and a change in the orbit of the satellite. So, every century the rotation of the Earth slows down by 0.002 seconds, as a result of which the duration of the day on the planet increases by ~15 microseconds per year, and annually moves away from us by 3.8 centimeters.

26. ‘Cosmic whirlpool’ called a neutron star is the fastest spinning object in the Universe, which makes up to 500 thousand revolutions per second around its axis. In addition, these cosmic bodies are so dense that one tablespoon of their constituent matter will weigh ~10 billion tons.

27. The star Betelgeuse is located at a distance of 640 light years from Earth and is the closest candidate for a supernova to our planetary system. It is so large that if placed in the place of the Sun, it would fill the diameter of Saturn's orbit. This star has already gained enough mass for the explosion of 20 Suns and, according to some scientists, should explode in the next 2-3 thousand years. At the peak of its explosion, which will last at least two months, the luminosity of Betelgeuse will be 1,050 times greater than that of the sun, making it possible to observe its death from Earth even with the naked eye.

28. The nearest galaxy to us, Andromeda, is at a distance of 2.52 million years. The Milky Way and Andromeda are moving towards each other at tremendous speeds (Andromeda's speed is 300 km / s, and milky way 552 km / s) and most likely will collide in 2.5-3 billion years.

29. In 2011, astronomers discovered a planet made up of 92% superdense crystalline carbon – diamond. The precious celestial body, which is 5 times larger than our planet and heavier than Jupiter, is located in the constellation Serpens, at a distance of 4,000 light years from Earth.

30. The main contender for the title of a habitable planet outside solar system, "Super-Earth" GJ 667Cc, is only 22 light-years from Earth. However, the journey to it will take us 13,878,738,000 years.

31. In the orbit of our planet there is a landfill from the waste of the development of astronautics. More than 370,000 objects weighing from a few grams to 15 tons revolve around the Earth at a speed of 9,834 m / s, colliding with each other and scattering into thousands of smaller parts.

32. Every second the Sun loses ~1 million tons of matter and becomes lighter by several billion grams. The reason for this is the stream of ionized particles flowing from its crown, which is called the "solar wind".

33. Over time, planetary systems become extremely unstable. This happens as a result of the weakening of the bonds between the planets and the stars around which they revolve.
In such systems, the orbits of the planets are constantly shifting and may even intersect, which will sooner or later lead to a collision of the planets. But even if this does not happen, then in a few hundreds, thousands, millions or billions of years the planets will move away from their star to such a distance that its gravitational attraction simply cannot hold them, and they will go on a combined flight through the galaxy.

About the planets, about the structure of space, about the human body and deep space. Each fact is accompanied by a large and colorful illustration.

The mass of the Sun is 99.86% of the mass of the entire solar system, the remaining 0.14% are planets and asteroids.

Jupiter's magnetic field is so powerful that it enriches our planet's magnetic field with billions of watts every day.

The largest basin in the solar system, formed as a result of a collision with a space object, is located on Mercury. This is "Caloris" (Caloris Basin), whose diameter is 1,550 km. The collision was so strong that the shock wave passed through the entire planet, drastically changing its appearance.

A solar substance the size of a pinhead, placed in the atmosphere of our planet, will begin to absorb oxygen at an incredible speed and in a split second will destroy all life within a radius of 160 kilometers.

1 plutonic year is 248 Earth years. This means that while Pluto makes only one complete revolution around the Sun, the Earth manages to make 248.

Things are even more interesting with Venus, 1 day on which lasts 243 Earth days, and the year is only 225.

The Martian volcano Olympus (Olympus Mons) is the largest in the solar system. Its length is more than 600 km, and its height is 27 km, while the height of the highest point on our planet, the peak of Mount Everest, reaches only 8.5 km.

An explosion (flash) of a supernova is accompanied by the release of a gigantic amount of energy. In the first 10 seconds, a supernova that explodes produces more energy than the Sun in 10 billion years, and in a short period of time produces more energy than all objects in the galaxy combined (excluding other exploding supernovas). The brightness of such stars easily outshines the luminosity of the galaxies in which they flared up.

Tiny neutron stars, whose diameter does not exceed 10 km, weigh as much as the Sun (recall fact #1). The force of gravity on these astronomical objects is extremely high and if, hypothetically, an astronaut lands on it, then his body weight will increase by about one million tons.

On February 5, 1843, astronomers discovered a comet, which was given the name "Great" (aka the March comet, C / 1843 D1 and 1843 I). Flying near the Earth in March of the same year, she 'lined' the sky in two with her tail, the length of which reached 800 million kilometers. Earthlings watched the tail trailing the Great Comet for more than a month, until, on April 19, 1983, it completely disappeared from the sky.

The energy of the sun's rays that warms us now originated in the core of the Sun more than 30 million years ago - most of this time it took her to overcome the dense shell of the celestial body and only 8 minutes to reach the surface of our planet.

Most of the heavy elements in your body (such as calcium, iron, and carbon) are by-products of the supernova explosion that started the formation of the solar system.

Researchers from Harvard University found that 0.67% of all rocks on Earth are of Martian origin.

The density of 5.6846×1026 kg Saturn is so low that if we could put it in water, it would float on the very surface.

Jupiter's moon Io has ~400 active volcanoes. The speed of emissions of sulfur and sulfur dioxide during the eruption can exceed 1 km/s, and the height of the streams can reach 500 km.

Contrary to popular belief, the cosmos is not a complete vacuum, but it is close enough to it, because. There is at least 1 atom per 88 gallons (0.4 m3) of cosmic matter (and as is often taught in school, there are no atoms or molecules in a vacuum).

Venus is the only planet in the solar system that rotates counterclockwise. There are several theoretical justifications for this. Some astronomers are sure that such a fate befalls all planets with a dense atmosphere, which first slows down and then spins the celestial body in the opposite direction from the initial rotation, while others suggest that a group of large asteroids fell on the surface of Venus.

Since the beginning of 1957 (the year of the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik-1), mankind has managed to literally seed the orbit of our planet with a variety of satellites, but only one of them was lucky enough to repeat the 'fate of the Titanic'. In 1993, the satellite "Olympus" (Olympus), owned by the European Space Agency (European Space Agency), was destroyed in a collision with an asteroid.

The largest meteorite that has fallen to Earth is considered to be the 2.7 meter Hoba, discovered in Namibia. The meteorite weighs 60 tons and is 86% iron, making it the largest piece of naturally occurring iron on Earth.

Tiny Pluto is considered the coldest planet (planetoid) in the solar system. Its surface is covered with a thick crust of ice, and the temperature drops to -2000 Celsius. Ice on Pluto has a completely different structure than on Earth and is several times stronger than steel.

The official scientific theory is that a person can survive in outer space without a space suit for 90 seconds if they immediately exhale all the air from their lungs. If a small amount of gases remains in the lungs, they will begin to expand with the subsequent formation of air bubbles, which, if released into the blood, will lead to embolism and inevitable death. If the lungs are filled with gases, then they will simply burst. After 10-15 seconds of being in outer space, the water in the human body will turn into steam, and the moisture in the mouth and before the eyes will begin to boil. As a result of this, soft tissues and muscles will swell, which will lead to complete immobilization. This will be followed by loss of vision, icing of the nasal cavity and larynx, blue skin, which in addition will suffer from severe sunburn. The most interesting thing is that the next 90 seconds the brain will still live and the heart will beat. In theory, if during the first 90 seconds an unsuccessful astronaut who has been exhausted in outer space is placed in a pressure chamber, then he will get off with only superficial injuries and a slight fright.

The weight of our planet is a variable value. Scientists have found that every year the Earth recovers by ~40,160 tons and dumps ~96,600 tons, thus losing 56,440 tons.

Earth's gravity compresses the human spine, so when an astronaut goes into space, he grows about 5.08 cm. At the same time, his heart contracts, decreasing in volume, and begins to pump less blood. This is the body's response to an increase in blood volume that requires less pressure to circulate normally.

In space, tightly compressed metal parts spontaneously weld together. This occurs as a result of the absence of oxides on their surfaces, the enrichment of which occurs only in an oxygen-containing environment (the earth's atmosphere can serve as a good example of such an environment). For this reason, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) specialists treat all metal parts of spacecraft with oxidizing materials.

Between the planet and its satellite, the effect of tidal acceleration occurs, which is characterized by a slowdown in the rotation of the planet around its own axis and a change in the orbit of the satellite. Thus, every century the rotation of the Earth slows down by 0.002 seconds, as a result of which the duration of the day on the planet increases by ~15 microseconds per year, and the Moon annually moves away from us by 3.8 centimeters.

The "cosmic whirligig" called a neutron star is the fastest spinning object in the Universe, which makes up to 500 revolutions per second around its axis. In addition, these cosmic bodies are so dense that one tablespoon of their constituent matter will weigh ~10 billion tons.

The star Betelgeuse is located at a distance of 640 light-years from Earth and is the closest supernova candidate to our planetary system. It is so large that if placed in the place of the Sun, it would fill the diameter of Saturn's orbit. This star has already gained enough mass for the explosion of 20 Suns and, according to some scientists, should explode in the next 2-3 thousand years. At the peak of its explosion, which will last at least two months, the luminosity of Betelgeuse will be 1,050 times greater than that of the sun, making it possible to observe its death from Earth even with the naked eye.

Our nearest galaxy, Andromeda, is 2.52 million years away. The Milky Way and Andromeda are moving towards each other at tremendous speeds (Andromeda's speed is 300 km/s, and the Milky Way is 552 km/s) and will most likely collide in 2.5-3 billion years.

In 2011, astronomers discovered a planet made up of 92% superdense crystalline carbon, diamond. The precious celestial body, which is 5 times larger than our planet and heavier than Jupiter, is located in the constellation Serpens, at a distance of 4,000 light years from Earth.

The main contender for the title of a habitable planet outside the solar system, "Super-Earth" GJ 667Cc, is located at a distance of only 22 light-years from Earth. However, the journey to it will take us 13,878,738,000 years.

In the orbit of our planet there is a dump of waste from the development of astronautics. More than 370,000 objects weighing from a few grams to 15 tons revolve around the Earth at a speed of 9,834 m / s, colliding with each other and scattering into thousands of smaller parts.

Every second, the Sun loses ~1 million tons of matter and becomes lighter by several billion grams. The reason for this is the stream of ionized particles flowing from its crown, which is called the "solar wind".

Over time, planetary systems become extremely unstable. This happens as a result of the weakening of the bonds between the planets and the stars around which they revolve. In such systems, the orbits of the planets are constantly shifting and may even intersect, which will sooner or later lead to a collision of the planets. But even if this does not happen, then in a few hundreds, thousands, millions or billions of years the planets will move away from their star to such a distance that its gravitational attraction simply cannot hold them, and they will go on a free flight through the galaxy.

Facts known and not so, about the planets, about the structure of space, about the human body and deep space. Each fact is accompanied by a large and colorful illustration.

1. The mass of the Sun is 99.86% of the mass of the entire solar system, the remaining 0.14% are planets and asteroids.

2. Jupiter's magnetic field is so powerful that it enriches our planet's magnetic field with billions of watts every day.

3. The largest basin of the solar system, formed as a result of a collision with a space object, is located on Mercury. This is "Caloris" (Caloris Basin), whose diameter is 1,550 km. The collision was so strong that the shock wave passed through the entire planet, drastically changing its appearance.

5. 1 Plutonian year is 248 Earth years. This means that while Pluto makes only one complete revolution around the Sun, the Earth manages to make 248.

6. Things are even more interesting with Venus, 1 day on which lasts 243 Earth days, and the year is only 225.

7. Martian volcano "Olympus" (Olympus Mons) is the largest in the solar system. Its length is more than 600 km, and its height is 27 km, while the height of the highest point on our planet, the peak of Mount Everest, reaches only 8.5 km.

8. An explosion (flash) of a supernova is accompanied by the release of a gigantic amount of energy. In the first 10 seconds, a supernova that explodes produces more energy than the Sun in 10 billion years, and in a short period of time produces more energy than all objects in the galaxy combined (excluding other exploding supernovas). The brightness of such stars easily outshines the luminosity of the galaxies in which they flared up.

10. On February 5, 1843, astronomers discovered a comet, which was given the name "Great" (aka the March comet, C / 1843 D1 and 1843 I). Flying near the Earth in March of the same year, she 'lined' the sky in two with her tail, the length of which reached 800 million kilometers. Earthlings watched the tail trailing the Great Comet for more than a month, until, on April 19, 1983, it completely disappeared from the sky.

11. The energy of the sun's rays that warms us now originated in the core of the Sun more than 30 million years ago - most of this time it took her to overcome the dense shell of the celestial body and only 8 minutes to reach the surface of our planet.

12. Most of the heavy elements in your body (such as calcium, iron, and carbon) are by-products of the supernova explosion that started the formation of the solar system.

13. Researchers from Harvard University found that 0.67% of all rocks on Earth are of Martian origin.

14. The density of 5.6846 x 1026 kg Saturn is so low that if we could put it in water, it would float on the very surface.

15. Saturn's moon Io has ~400 active volcanoes. The speed of emissions of sulfur and sulfur dioxide during the eruption can exceed 1 km/s, and the height of the streams can reach 500 km.

17. Venus is the only planet in the solar system that rotates counterclockwise. There are several theoretical justifications for this. Some astronomers are sure that such a fate befalls all planets with a dense atmosphere, which first slows down and then spins the celestial body in the opposite direction from the initial rotation, while others suggest that a group of large asteroids fell on the surface of Venus.

18. Since the beginning of 1957 (the year of the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik-1), mankind has managed to literally seed the orbit of our planet with a variety of satellites, but only one of them was lucky enough to repeat the 'fate of the Titanic'. In 1993, the satellite "Olympus" (Olympus), owned by the European Space Agency (European Space Agency), was destroyed in a collision with an asteroid.

19. The largest meteorite that has fallen to Earth is considered to be the 2.7 meter Hoba discovered in Namibia. The meteorite weighs 60 tons and is 86% iron, making it the largest piece of naturally occurring iron on Earth.

20. Tiny Pluto is considered the coldest planet (planetoid) of the solar system. Its surface is covered with a thick crust of ice, and the temperature drops to -200 0C. Ice on Pluto has a completely different structure than on Earth and is several times stronger than steel.

21. The official scientific theory says that a person can survive in outer space without a spacesuit for 90 seconds if he immediately exhales all the air from his lungs. If a small amount of gases remains in the lungs, they will begin to expand with the subsequent formation of air bubbles, which, if released into the blood, will lead to embolism and inevitable death. If the lungs are filled with gases, then they will simply burst. After 10-15 seconds of being in outer space, the water in the human body will turn into steam, and the moisture in the mouth and before the eyes will begin to boil. As a result of this, soft tissues and muscles will swell, which will lead to complete immobilization. This will be followed by loss of vision, icing of the nasal cavity and larynx, blue skin, which in addition will suffer from severe sunburn. The most interesting thing is that the next 90 seconds the brain will still live and the heart will beat. In theory, if during the first 90 seconds an unlucky cosmonaut tormented in outer space is placed in a pressure chamber, he will get off with only superficial injuries and a slight fright.

22. The weight of our planet is a variable value. Scientists have found that every year the Earth recovers by ~40,160 tons and dumps ~96,600 tons, thus losing 56,440 tons.

23. Earth's gravity compresses the human spine, so when an astronaut goes into space, he grows about 5.08 cm. At the same time, his heart contracts, decreasing in volume, and begins to pump less blood. This is the body's response to an increase in blood volume that requires less pressure to circulate normally.

24. In space, tightly compressed metal parts spontaneously weld. This occurs as a result of the absence of oxides on their surfaces, the enrichment of which occurs only in an oxygen-containing environment (the earth's atmosphere can serve as a good example of such an environment). For this reason, NASA specialists The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency owned by the US federal government, reporting directly to the Vice President of the United States and funded 100% from the state budget, responsible for civil space country program. All images and videos obtained by NASA and its affiliates, including those from numerous telescopes and interferometers, are published in the public domain and may be freely copied. treat all metal parts of spacecraft with oxidizing materials.

25. Between the planet and its satellite, the effect of tidal acceleration occurs, which is characterized by a slowdown in the rotation of the planet around its own axis and a change in the orbit of the satellite. Thus, every century the rotation of the Earth slows down by 0.002 seconds, as a result of which the duration of the day on the planet increases by ~15 microseconds per year, and the Moon annually moves away from us by 3.8 centimeters.

28. The nearest galaxy to us, Andromeda, is at a distance of 2.52 million years. The Milky Way and Andromeda are moving towards each other at tremendous speeds (Andromeda's speed is 300 km/s, and the Milky Way is 552 km/s) and will most likely collide in 2.5-3 billion years.

29. In 2011, astronomers discovered a planet composed of 92% superdense crystalline carbon - diamond. The precious celestial body, which is 5 times larger than our planet and heavier than Jupiter, is located in the constellation Serpens, at a distance of 4,000 light years from Earth.

30. The main contender for the title of a habitable planet outside the solar system, "Super-Earth" GJ 667Cc, is located at a distance of only 22 light-years from Earth. However, the journey to it will take us 13,878,738,000 years.

33. Over time, planetary systems become extremely unstable. This happens as a result of the weakening of the bonds between the planets and the stars around which they revolve. In such systems, the orbits of the planets are constantly shifting and may even intersect, which will sooner or later lead to a collision of the planets. But even if this does not happen, then in a few hundreds, thousands, millions or billions of years the planets will move away from their star to such a distance that its gravitational attraction simply cannot hold them, and they will go on a combined flight through the galaxy.

34. The sun makes up 99.8 percent of the mass of the solar system.