Expectation and Reality: Star Clusters. What is ball lightning? Photos and interesting facts Photos of the largest ball

Today, on Cosmonautics Day, we will enjoy pictures of the Hubble orbital telescope, which has been in orbit of our planet for more than twenty years and continues to reveal to us the secrets of space to this day.

NGC 5194

Known as NGC 5194, this big galaxy with a well developed spiral structure, may have been the first spiral nebula to be discovered. It is clearly seen that its spiral arms and dust lanes pass in front of its companion galaxy, NGC 5195 (left). This pair is about 31 million light-years away and officially belongs to the small constellation Canes Venatici.

spiral galaxy M33 is a medium-sized galaxy from the Local Group. M33 is also called the Triangulum galaxy after the constellation in which it resides. About 4 times smaller (in radius) than our Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), M33 is much larger than many dwarf galaxies. Due to its proximity to M31, M33 is thought by some to be a satellite of this more massive galaxy. M33 near the Milky Way angular dimensions more than twice the size full moon, i.e. it is perfectly visible with good binoculars.

Stephen's Quintet

Group of galaxies - Stephen's quintet. However, only four of the group of galaxies, located 300 million light-years away from us, participate in the cosmic dance, now approaching, then moving away from each other. It's pretty easy to find one. Four interacting galaxies - NGC 7319, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B and NGC 7317 - have a yellowish color and curved loops and tails, the shape of which is due to the influence of destructive tidal gravitational forces. The bluish galaxy NGC 7320, above left, is much closer than the others, only 40 million light-years away.

Andromeda Galaxy is the closest giant galaxy to our Milky Way. Most likely our galaxy looks about the same as the Andromeda galaxy. These two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The hundreds of billions of stars that make up the Andromeda galaxy together give a visible diffuse glow. The individual stars in the image are actually stars in our galaxy, much closer than the distant object. The Andromeda Galaxy is often referred to as M31, as it is the 31st object in Charles Messier's catalog of diffuse celestial objects.

Nebula Lagoon

The bright Lagoon Nebula contains many different astronomical objects. Objects of particular interest include a bright open star cluster and several active star forming regions. In visual observation, the light from the cluster is lost against the background of a general red glow caused by the emission of hydrogen, while dark filaments arise from the absorption of light by dense layers of dust.

The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the most famous planetary nebulae in the sky. Its distinctive symmetrical shapes are seen in the center of this spectacular false color image, specially manipulated to show a huge but very faint halo of gaseous substance, about three light-years across, that surrounds a bright, familiar planetary nebula.

The small constellation Chameleon is located near south pole Peace. The picture reveals the amazing features of the humble constellation, which is full of dusty nebulae and colorful stars. Blue reflection nebulae are scattered across the field.

Cosmic dust clouds faintly glowing with reflected starlight. Far from our familiar places on planet Earth, they hide on the edge of the Cepheus Halo molecular cloud complex, 1200 light-years away from us. Nebula Sh2-136, located near the center of the field, is brighter than other ghostly visions. Its size is more than two light years, and it is visible even in infrared light.

The dark dusty Horsehead Nebula and the glowing Orion Nebula contrast in the sky. They are located at a distance of 1500 light years from us in the direction of the most recognizable celestial constellation. And in today's wonderful composite photo, the nebulae occupy opposite corners. The familiar Horsehead Nebula is a small dark cloud in the shape of a horse's head looming against the background of red glowing gas in the lower left corner of the picture.

crab nebula

This confusion remained after the explosion of the star. The Crab Nebula is the result of a supernova explosion that was observed in 1054 AD. The supernova remnant is filled with mysterious filaments. The filaments are not just complicated to look at. The Crab Nebula is ten light-years across. At the very center of the nebula is a pulsar - neutron star with a mass equal to the mass of the Sun, which fits into an area the size of a small town.

This is a mirage from a gravitational lens. The bright red galaxy (LRG) pictured here has its gravity warped light from a more distant blue galaxy. Most often, such a distortion of light leads to the appearance of two images. distant galaxy, however, in the case of a very precise superimposition of the galaxy and the gravitational lens, the images merge into a horseshoe - an almost closed ring. This effect was predicted by Albert Einstein 70 years ago.

Star V838 Mon

For unknown reasons, in January 2002, the outer shell of the star V838 Mon suddenly expanded, making this star the brightest star in all Milky Way. Then she became weak again, also suddenly. Astronomers have never seen a stellar flare like this before.

The birth of the planets

How are planets formed? To try and figure this out, the Hubble Space Telescope was tasked with taking a close look at one of the most interesting of all the nebulae in the sky, the Great Nebula of Orion. The Orion Nebula can be seen with the naked eye near the belt of the constellation Orion. The insets in this photo show numerous proplyds, many of which are stellar nurseries that likely host planetary systems in formation.

Star cluster R136

At the center of the star-forming region of 30 Doradus is a gigantic cluster of the largest, hottest, and most massive stars known to us. These stars form the R136 cluster, captured in this image taken in visible light already on the upgraded spacecraft. Hubble telescope.

The brilliant NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies we see, and at the same time one of the dustiest. Some call it the "Silver Dollar Galaxy" because in a small telescope it has the appropriate shape. Others simply call it "The Sculptor Galaxy" because it lies within the southern constellation Sculptor. This dusty galaxy is 10 million light-years away.

Galaxy M83

M83 is one of the closest spiral galaxies to us. From a distance that separates us from 15 million light years, it looks completely ordinary. However, if we look closer at the center of M83 with the largest telescopes, this area appears to us as a turbulent and noisy place.

Nebula Ring

It really looks like a ring in the sky. Therefore, hundreds of years ago, astronomers named this nebula according to its unusual shape. The Ring Nebula also has the designations M57 and NGC 6720. The Ring Nebula is classified as a planetary nebula, it gas clouds, which are thrown out by stars similar to the Sun at the end of their lives. Its size exceeds the diameter. This is one of the earliest images of Hubble.

Pillar and jets in the Carina Nebula

This cosmic column of gas and dust is two light years wide. The structure is located in one of the largest star-forming regions in our Galaxy, the Carina Nebula, which is visible in the southern sky and is 7500 light-years away from us.

Center of the globular cluster Omega Centauri

In the center of the globular cluster Omega Centauri, the stars are packed ten thousand times denser than the stars in the vicinity of the Sun. The image shows many faint yellow-white stars, smaller than our Sun, several orange red giants, as well as random blue stars. If suddenly two stars collide, then one more massive star can form, or they form a new binary system.

Giant cluster distorts and splits the image of the galaxy

Many of them are images of a single unusual, bead-like blue ring galaxy, which by chance was located behind a giant cluster of galaxies. According to recent research, in total, at least 330 images of individual distant galaxies can be found in the picture. This stunning photograph of the galaxy cluster CL0024+1654 was taken by the Space Telescope. Hubble in November 2004.

Trifid Nebula

The beautiful multicolored Trifid Nebula allows you to explore cosmic contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies some 5,000 light-years away in the nebula-rich constellation of Sagittarius. The size of the nebula is about 40 light years.

Centaurus A

A fantastic bunch of young blue star clusters, giant glowing gas clouds and dark dust lanes surround the central region of the active galaxy Centaurus A. Centaurus A is close to Earth, at a distance of 10 million light years

Butterfly Nebula

Bright clusters and nebulae in planet Earth's night sky are often named after flowers or insects, and NGC 6302 is no exception. The central star of this planetary nebula is exceptionally hot, with a surface temperature of around 250,000 degrees Celsius.

An image of a supernova that exploded in 1994 on the outskirts of a spiral galaxy.

This remarkable cosmic portrait shows two colliding galaxies with merging spiral arms. Above and to the left of the large spiral galaxy of the NGC 6050 pair, a third galaxy can be seen, which is also likely to be involved in the interaction. All of these galaxies are about 450 million light-years away in the Hercules cluster of galaxies. At this distance, the image spans over 150,000 light-years. And although this view seems quite unusual, scientists now know that collisions and subsequent mergers of galaxies are not uncommon.

Spiral galaxy NGC 3521 lies just 35 million light-years away towards the constellation Leo. The galaxy, which spans 50,000 light-years, has features such as ragged spiral arms irregular shape, adorned with dust, pinkish star-forming regions and clusters of young bluish stars.

Although this unusual outlier was first seen in the early twentieth century, its origin is still a matter of debate. The picture above, taken in 1998 by the Hubble Space Telescope, clearly shows details of the jet's structure. The most popular hypothesis suggests that the source of the ejection was heated gas orbiting a massive black hole at the center of the galaxy.

Sombrero galaxy

The appearance of the M104 galaxy resembles a hat, which is why it was called the Sombrero galaxy. The image shows distinct dark dust lanes and a bright halo of stars and globular clusters. The reasons why the Sombrero Galaxy looks like a hat are an unusually large central stellar bulge and dense dark lanes of dust located in the disk of the galaxy, which we can see almost edge-on.

M17 close-up view

Shaped by stellar winds and radiation, these fantastic wave-like formations are found in the M17 Nebula (Omega Nebula) and are part of a star forming region. The Omega Nebula lies in the nebula-rich constellation of Sagittarius and is 5,500 light-years away. Ragged clumps of dense and cold gas and dust are illuminated by the radiation of the stars in the image at the top right, in the future they can become sites of star formation.

What illuminates the nebula IRAS 05437+2502? So far, there is no definitive answer. Particularly puzzling is the bright, inverted V-shaped arc that delineates the upper edge of mountain-like clouds of interstellar dust near the center of the image. All in all, this ghostly nebula contains a small star-forming region filled with dark dust. It was first seen in infrared images taken by the IRAS satellite in 1983. Shown here is a wonderful, recently published image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Although it shows a lot of new details, the reason for the appearance of a bright, clear arc could not be established.

The first written mention of the mysterious and mysterious fireballs can be found in the annals of 106 BC. e .: “Great fiery birds appeared over Rome, carrying red-hot coals in their beaks, which, falling down, burned houses. The city was on fire…” There were also many descriptions of fireballs in Portugal and France in the Middle Ages, the phenomenon of which prompted alchemists to spend their time in search of an opportunity to rule over the spirits of fire.

Fireball It is considered a special type of lightning, which is a luminous fireball floating through the air (sometimes it looks like a mushroom, drop or pear). Its size usually ranges from 10 to 20 cm, and it itself is blue, orange or white (although other colors can often be seen, up to black), while the color is heterogeneous and often changes. People who have seen what ball lightning looks like say that inside it consists of small fixed parts.

As for the temperature of the plasma ball, it has not yet been determined: although, according to scientists, it should be from 100 to 1000 degrees Celsius, people who found themselves near the fireball did not feel the heat from it. If it suddenly explodes (although this does not always happen), all nearby liquid evaporates, and glass and metal melt.

A case was recorded when a plasma ball, being in a house, fell into a barrel, where there were sixteen liters of freshly brought well water. At the same time, it did not explode, but after boiling water, it disappeared. After the water finished boiling, it was hot for twenty minutes.

A fireball can exist for quite a long time, and when moving, it can suddenly change direction, while it can even hang in the air for several minutes, after which it abruptly, at a speed of 8 to 10 m / s, go to the side.

Ball lightning occurs mainly during a thunderstorm, but repeated cases of its occurrence in sunny weather have also been recorded. It usually appears in a single copy (at least modern science did not fix another), and often in the most unexpected way: it can descend from the clouds, appear in the air or swim out from behind a pole or tree. It is not difficult for her to penetrate into an enclosed space: there are cases of her appearance from sockets, a TV, and even in cockpits.

Many cases of continuous occurrence of ball lightning in the same place have been recorded. So, in a small town near Pskov, there is a Devil's meadow, on which black ball lightning periodically jumps out of the ground (it began to appear here after the fall Tunguska meteorite). Its constant occurrence in the same place made it possible for scientists to try to fix this appearance with the help of sensors, however, to no avail: they were all melted during the movement of ball lightning across the clearing.

Secrets of ball lightning

For a long time, scientists did not even allow the existence of such a phenomenon as ball lightning: information about its appearance was attributed mainly to either optical illusion or hallucinations that affect the retina after a flash of ordinary lightning. Moreover, the evidence of how ball lightning looks did not coincide in many respects, and during its reproduction in laboratory conditions it was possible to obtain only short-term phenomena.

Everything changed after the beginning of the XIX century. physicist Francois Arago published a report with collected and systematized eyewitness accounts of the phenomenon of ball lightning. Although these data managed to convince many scientists of the existence of this amazing phenomenon, skeptics still remained. Moreover, the mysteries of ball lightning do not decrease over time, but only multiply.

First of all, the nature of the appearance of an amazing ball is incomprehensible, since it appears not only in a thunderstorm, but also on a clear fine day.

The composition of the substance is also unclear, which allows it to penetrate not only through door and window openings, but also through tiny cracks, after which it can again take its original form without prejudice to itself (physicists are currently unable to unravel this phenomenon).

Some scientists, studying the phenomenon, put forward the assumption that ball lightning is actually a gas, but in this case, the plasma ball, under the influence of internal heat, would have to fly up like a balloon.

And the nature of the radiation itself is not clear: where does it come from - only from the surface of the lightning, or from its entire volume. Also, physicists cannot help but face the question of where the energy disappears, what is inside ball lightning: if it went only to radiation, the ball would not disappear after a few minutes, but would glow for a couple of hours.

Despite a huge number of theories, physicists still cannot give a scientifically sound explanation of this phenomenon. But, there are two opposite versions that have gained popularity in scientific circles.

Hypothesis #1

Dominic Arago not only systematized the data on the plasma ball, but also tried to explain what the riddle of ball lightning is. According to him, ball lightning is a specific interaction of nitrogen with oxygen, during which energy is released that creates lightning.

Another physicist Frenkel supplemented this version with the theory that the plasma ball is a spherical vortex, consisting of dust particles with active gases, which became such due to the obtained electrical discharge. For this reason, the vortex-ball may well exist for quite a long time. His version is supported by the fact that a plasma ball usually appears in dusty air after an electric discharge, and leaves behind a small haze with a specific smell.

Thus, this version suggests that all the energy of the plasma ball is inside it, which is why ball lightning can be considered an energy storage device.

Hypothesis #2

Academician Pyotr Kapitsa did not agree with this opinion, since he argued that for the continuous glow of lightning, additional energy is needed that would feed the ball from the outside. He put forward a version that the phenomenon of ball lightning is fed by radio waves with a length of 35 to 70 cm, resulting from electromagnetic oscillations formed between thunderclouds and the earth's crust.

He explained the explosion of ball lightning by an unexpected stop in the supply of energy, for example, a change in the frequency of electromagnetic oscillations, as a result of which rarefied air "collapses".

Although many people liked his version, the nature of the fireball does not match the version. At the moment, modern equipment has never recorded the radio waves of the desired wave, which would appear as a result of atmospheric discharges. In addition, water is an almost insurmountable obstacle to radio waves, and therefore it would not be possible for a plasma ball to heat water, as in the case of a barrel, and even more so to boil it.

It also casts doubt on the scale of the explosion of the plasma ball: it is not only capable of melting or smashing strong and strong objects into pieces, but also breaking thick logs, and its shock wave is capable of overturning the tractor. At the same time, the ordinary "collapse" of rarefied air is not capable of doing all these tricks, and its effect is similar to a bursting balloon.

What to do when you encounter ball lightning

Whatever the reason for the emergence of an amazing plasma ball, it must be borne in mind that a collision with it is extremely dangerous, because if a ball overflowing with electricity touches a living creature, it may well kill, and if it explodes, it can smash everything around.

Seeing a fireball at home or on the street, the main thing is not to panic, do not make sudden movements and do not run: ball lightning is extremely sensitive to any air turbulence and may well follow it.

You need to slowly, calmly turn off the path of the ball, trying to stay as far away from it as possible, but in no case turn your back. If ball lightning is in the room, you need to go to the window and open the window: following the movement of air, the lightning will most likely fly out.

It is also strictly forbidden to throw anything into the plasma ball: this may well lead to an explosion, and then injuries, burns, and in some cases even cardiac arrest are inevitable. If it so happened that a person failed to leave the trajectory of the ball, and he touched him, causing a loss of consciousness, the victim must be transferred to a ventilated room, wrapped warmly, artificial respiration done and, of course, immediately call an ambulance.

Here is a selection of images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. It has been in the orbit of our planet for more than twenty years and continues to this day to reveal to us the secrets of space.

(Total 30 photos)

Known as NGC 5194, this large galaxy with a well-developed spiral structure may have been the first spiral nebula to be discovered. It is clearly seen that its spiral arms and dust lanes pass in front of its companion galaxy, NGC 5195 (left). This pair is about 31 million light-years away and officially belongs to the small constellation Canes Venatici.

2 Spiral Galaxy M33

Spiral galaxy M33 is a medium-sized galaxy in the Local Group. M33 is also called the Triangulum galaxy after the constellation in which it resides. About 4 times smaller (in radius) than our Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), M33 is much larger than many dwarf galaxies. Due to its proximity to M31, M33 is thought by some to be a satellite of this more massive galaxy. M33 is not far from the Milky Way, its angular dimensions are more than twice the dimensions of the full moon, i.e. it is perfectly visible with good binoculars.

3. Stephen's Quintet

The group of galaxies is Stefan's quintet. However, only four of the group of galaxies, located 300 million light-years away from us, participate in the cosmic dance, now approaching, then moving away from each other. It's pretty easy to find one. Four interacting galaxies - NGC 7319, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B and NGC 7317 - have a yellowish coloration and curved loops and tails, the shape of which is caused by the influence of destructive tidal gravitational forces. The bluish galaxy NGC 7320, above left, is much closer than the others, only 40 million light-years away.

4 Andromeda Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest of the giant galaxies to our Milky Way. Most likely our galaxy looks about the same as the Andromeda galaxy. These two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The hundreds of billions of stars that make up the Andromeda galaxy together give a visible diffuse glow. The individual stars in the image are actually stars in our galaxy, much closer than the distant object. The Andromeda Galaxy is often referred to as M31, as it is the 31st object in Charles Messier's catalog of diffuse celestial objects.

5 Lagoon Nebula

6. Nebula Cat's Eye (NGC 6543)

The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the most famous planetary nebulae in the sky. Its hauntingly symmetrical shapes are visible in the center of this spectacular false-color image, specially manipulated to show a huge but very faint halo of gaseous matter, about three light-years in diameter, that surrounds a bright, familiar planetary nebula.

7. Small constellation Chameleon

The small constellation Chameleon is located near the south pole of the World. The picture reveals the amazing features of the humble constellation, which is full of dusty nebulae and colorful stars. Blue reflection nebulae are scattered across the field.

8. Nebula Sh2-136

Cosmic dust clouds faintly glowing with reflected starlight. Far from our familiar places on planet Earth, they hide on the edge of the Cepheus Halo molecular cloud complex, 1200 light-years away from us. Nebula Sh2-136, located near the center of the field, is brighter than other ghostly visions. It is over two light-years across and is visible even in infrared light.

9 Horsehead Nebula

10 Crab Nebula

This confusion remained after the explosion of the star. The Crab Nebula is the result of a supernova explosion that was observed in 1054 AD. The supernova remnant is filled with mysterious filaments. The filaments are not just complicated to look at. The Crab Nebula is ten light-years across. At the very center of the nebula is a pulsar - a neutron star with a mass equal to the mass of the Sun, which fits in an area the size of a small town.

11. Mirage from a gravitational lens

This is a mirage from a gravitational lens. The bright red galaxy (LRG) pictured here has its gravity warped light from a more distant blue galaxy. Most often, such a distortion of light leads to the appearance of two images of a distant galaxy, but in the case of a very precise superposition of the galaxy and the gravitational lens, the images merge into a horseshoe - an almost closed ring. This effect was predicted by Albert Einstein 70 years ago.

12. Star V838 Mon

For unknown reasons, in January 2002, the outer shell of the star V838 Mon suddenly expanded, making it the brightest star in the entire Milky Way. Then she became weak again, also suddenly. Astronomers have never seen a stellar flare like this before.

13. Birth of planets

How are planets formed? To try to figure this out, the Hubble Space Telescope was tasked with taking a close look at one of the most interesting of all the nebulae in the sky, the Great Nebula of Orion. The Orion Nebula can be seen with the naked eye near the belt of the constellation Orion. The insets in this photo show numerous proplyds, many of which are stellar nurseries that likely host planetary systems in formation.

14. Star cluster R136

At the center of the star-forming region of 30 Doradus is a gigantic cluster of the largest, hottest, and most massive stars known to us. These stars form the R136 cluster, captured in this visible-light image from the upgraded Hubble Space Telescope.

The brilliant NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies we see, and at the same time one of the dustiest. Some call it the "Silver Dollar Galaxy" because it is shaped like that in a small telescope. Others simply refer to it as "The Sculptor Galaxy" because it lies within the southern constellation Sculptor. This dusty galaxy is 10 million light-years away.

16. Galaxy M83

17. Ring Nebula

It really looks like a ring in the sky. Therefore, hundreds of years ago, astronomers named this nebula according to its unusual shape. The Ring Nebula also has the designations M57 and NGC 6720. The Ring Nebula is classified as a planetary nebula, a gas cloud that stars similar to the Sun throw out at the end of their lives. Its size exceeds the diameter. This is one of the earliest images of Hubble.

18. Pillar and jets in the Carina Nebula

19. Center of globular cluster Omega Centauri

In the center of the globular cluster Omega Centauri, the stars are packed ten thousand times denser than the stars in the vicinity of the Sun. The image shows many faint yellow-white stars, smaller than our Sun, several orange red giants, as well as occasional blue stars. If suddenly two stars collide, then one more massive star can form, or they form a new binary system.

20. A giant cluster distorts and splits the image of the galaxy

Many of them are images of a single unusual, bead-like, blue ring galaxy that happens to be located behind a giant cluster of galaxies. According to recent research, in total, at least 330 images of individual distant galaxies can be found in the picture. This stunning photograph of the galaxy cluster CL0024+1654 was taken by the Space Telescope. Hubble in November 2004.

21. Trifid Nebula

22. Centaurus A

23. Nebula Butterfly

24. Supernova

An image of a supernova that exploded in 1994 on the outskirts of a spiral galaxy.

25. Two colliding galaxies with merged spiral arms

26. Spiral galaxy NGC 3521

Spiral galaxy NGC 3521 lies just 35 million light-years away towards the constellation Leo. The galaxy, which spans 50,000 light-years, has features such as ragged, irregular spiral arms adorned with dust, pinkish star-forming regions, and clusters of young bluish stars.

27. Jet structure details

28. Sombrero Galaxy

29. M17 close-up view

30. Nebula IRAS 05437+2502

Incredible Facts

The world's largest photo

The largest photo so far is 320 gigapixel panorama of London, which was compiled from 48,640 individual images. All images were taken with four Canon EOS 7D cameras and assembled to create this 360-degree creation. If this was a physical photograph, it would be the size of Buckingham Palace. It is worth noting that the photo was taken from the roof of the BT Tower.

The largest ship in the world

Most big ship, P exceeding the dimensions of the Empire State Building, was launched in South Korea. The Prelude is 488 meters long and 74 meters wide. When fully loaded, the ship weighs about 600,000 tons.

The largest liner

Together with her twin brother, the Oasis of the Seas cruise ship is by far the largest passenger ship on the planet. Its length is 360 meters, and its twin brother Allure of the Seas is only 5 cm longer.

The largest lake in the world

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on our planet. It is located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. To date, the area of the Caspian Sea is about 371,000 square meters.

The biggest river

In terms of the size of the basin, as well as the full flow and length of the river system, the Amazon is the largest river on Earth. The river has a length of 6992.06 km. In 2011, the Amazon was recognized as a natural wonder of the world.

The largest aircraft in the world

At the moment, the An-225 "Mriya" is rightfully considered the largest aircraft. This transport jet aircraft was developed by OKB im. O. K. Antonova. It was designed and built in the USSR at the Kiev Mechanical Plant between 1984 and 1988. Today, only one copy flies, which is operated by Antonov Airlines.

The largest machine in the world (the largest excavator)

The Bagger 288 excavator was built in 1978 by the German company Krupp for Rheinbraun. The vehicle is larger than the NASA tracked transporter used to transport shuttles and Apollo rockets to the launch site. Bagger 288 is used for mining and digging large trenches. Every day he is able to extract 230 tons of coal.

The biggest ball

In 2002, a team of NASA engineers designed the world's largest balloon, the volume of which is 1.7 million cubic meters. m. The whole structure weighs 690 kilograms. It was launched as part of the LEE (Low Energy Electrons) program, and the balloon was able to rise to a height of 49 kilometers. Studies have shown that this balloon can be used to deliver equipment to record heights.

The biggest book in the world

The largest book measures 5 m x 8.06 m and weighs approximately 1,500 kg. It contains 429 pages and was created by Mshahed International Group, in Dubai, UAE on February 27, 2012. More than 50 people contributed to the creation of the book, which is called "This is Muhammad" ("This is Muhammad").

The biggest screen

The largest screen on Earth can be seen in Kazan. Large plasma panels were installed at the Kazan Arena stadium, and the total screen area is 3,622 square meters.

The biggest store

The Shinsegae department store was included in the Guinness Book of Records in the nomination "The largest store in the world". It was built in Busan, South Korea. It is worth noting that Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and the largest seaport on Earth. Shinsegae department store has an area of 293,905 square meters. The opening took place in 2009 - it was then that the store broke the record of 100,000 square meters, previously owned by Macy's department store in New York.

The biggest stadium

At the moment from huge amount of stadiums built for various sporting events, the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang (DPRK) is in the lead. This stadium can accommodate 150,000 spectators. It was built back in 1989 to host the XIII Festival of Youth and Students. It is worth noting the design feature of this stadium - 16 arches that form a ring. Thanks to these arches, the shape of the stadium resembles a magnolia flower. Despite the fact that the DPRK national football team plays at this stadium, it is mainly used for mass holiday"Ariran".

The largest water park

Tropical Islands is the largest water park in the world. It is located in Halba in Brandenburg, Germany. Previously, the water park building was used as a hangar for airships. It is also worth noting that this building is the largest self-supporting hall in the world. The complex can accommodate up to 6,000 people per day. It employs about 500 people.

The largest oceanarium

In Singapore, you can visit the Marine Life Park. Built on Sentosa Island, this aquarium is the largest in the world. The opening took place on November 22, 2012. The park consists of 2 parts: the S.E.A Aquarium and the Adventure Cove Waterpark. In the first one you will be able to see over 100,000 marine animals of 800 species living in a large aquarium filled with 45,000,000 liters of sea water.

The biggest museum

One can argue for a long time which museum is the largest, but most opinions converge on the Louvre Museum (Musee du Louvre), which in 2012 was visited by 9,720,260 people. Its area is 160,106 square meters. On an area of 58,470 sq. meters are exposure.

The largest library

The Library of Congress is the largest in the world. This US National Library is located in Washington DC and is the research library of the United States Congress. It is used by representatives of government bodies, research institutions, scientists, private firms, as well as industrial companies and schools.

largest airport

The Guinness Book of Records notes that by area the largest airport in the world is the King Fahd International Airport (KFIA). It is located 25 kilometers from the city of Dammam ( Saudi Arabia). Its area is 780 square km.

In terms of passenger traffic and number of takeoffs and landings, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is currently the busiest airport in the world. It has several names: Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson and is located 11 km from the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The largest tomb

The tomb of the 16th emperor of Japan, Nintoku (or O-sazaki), is one of the three largest tombs in the world, along with pyramid of Cheops andwith the tomb of Qin Shi Huang-di, the ruler of the Qin kingdom (since 246 BC), who stopped the centuries-oldera of the Warring States. The tomb of the Japanese emperor is located in Sakai near Osaka and is the largest kofun in Japan (kofun is an ancient burial mound in the land of the rising sun). The tomb is 1,600 years old and looks like a keyhole when viewed from above. It occupies an area of 464,124 square meters.

The largest building

The Boeing 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner are some of the largest airliners in the world and are assembled at the Boeing Everett Factory near Everett, Washington. With a volume of more than 13 million cubic meters and an area of almost 400,000 square meters, the Boeing Everett Factory is the largest building in the world.

Ball lightning is a glowing clump of very hot gas that can occasionally appear in thunderstorm weather conditions. There are a lot of testimonies of people who nevertheless saw or believe that they actually saw ball lightning.

Ball lightning: photos of eyewitnesses can give some idea of these phenomena. Of course, it must be remembered that such a phenomenon has not yet been fully understood by physics. But you should not treat it as something super-unusual, supernatural. Until the end, this phenomenon has not yet been studied, but scientists continue to actively investigate it.

Ball lightning is a very beautiful phenomenon in itself.

Not many have seen it in real life.