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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04:02
WOW! Earth Directed Coronal Mass Ejection & Quadruple Solar Activity!
Added 815 Views / 0 LikesWOW! Earth Directed Coronal Mass Ejection & Quadruple Solar Activity!
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01:22
Dwarf Galaxy, Hiding In Plain Sight, Frames Distant Large Galaxies | Video
Added 812 Views / 0 LikesDwarf Galaxy, Hiding In Plain Sight, Frames Distant Large Galaxies | Video
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01:02
Weirdly Passive Black Hole Discovered Orbiting Fast-Spinning Star | Animation
Added 811 Views / 0 LikesThe MWC 656 system consists of a massive "Be" star and a companion black hole. The star rotates at very high speed, ejecting an equatorial disc of matter that is transferred to the black hole through an accretion disc. Read more here: http://goo.gl/qNF6B3
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00:38
Biggest Solar Eruption of 2011 - Multiple Satellite Views
Added 810 Views / 0 LikesOn 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
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03:05
Planet Ripped Apart By White Dwarf? | Video
Added 810 Views / 0 LikesPlanet Ripped Apart By White Dwarf? | Video
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09:48
Historic Blizzard puts NY & East Coast under Pressure & Ice Ice, baby.
Added 809 Views / 0 LikesHistoric Blizzard puts NY & East Coast under Pressure & Ice Ice, baby.
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03:39
Earth's Cousin Find 'Whispers The Possibility That We Are Not Alone' | Video
Added 809 Views / 0 LikesEarth's Cousin Find 'Whispers The Possibility That We Are Not Alone' | Video
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00:26
Red and Green 'Christmas' Auroras Light Up Skies Over Sweden | Video
Added 808 Views / 0 LikesChad Blakley (lightsoverlapland.com) grabbed his camera on Christmas Day 2013 and captured the festive Northern Lights above the frozen shore of Lake Torneträsk in Abisko National Park.
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07:53
NASA Warns Not To Touch Antares Rocket Debris, Contact Authorities | Video
Added 808 Views / 0 LikesNASA Warns Not To Touch Antares Rocket Debris, Contact Authorities | Video
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02:48
Monster Winter Storm Orson headed to East Coast USA. Bombogenesis!
Added 806 Views / 0 LikesMonster Winter Storm Orson headed to East Coast USA. Bombogenesis!
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02:37
Spot Planets and a Meteor Shower In July 2014 | Skywatching Video
Added 804 Views / 0 LikesSpot Planets and a Meteor Shower In July 2014 | Skywatching Video
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01:36
NASA's 9th Morpheus Lander -- Highest Flight Yet | Video
Added 804 Views / 0 LikesNASA JSC's prototype planetary lander made its fastest (~30 mph) and highest ascent (580 feet) on March 11, 2014. The flight lasted 83-seconds and it touched down on a landing pad 837 feet 'downrange' from the launchpad.
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03:03
Barren, Blasted Mercury Revealed In New Fly Over | Time Lapse
Added 803 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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00:40
Auroras Dance Over Norway Fishing Village | Video
Added 802 Views / 0 LikesNorthern lights were on display over a small village on the archipelago of Lofoten in northern Norway. Photographer Chad Blakley http://lightsoverlapland.com was on hand to snap footage. (looped)
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01:20
Solar X-Flare Ripples Earth's Magnetic Field | Video
Added 802 Views / 0 LikesAn X1-class flare erupted from sunspot AR2017 on Mar. 29th, 2014. NASA's SDO captured the fireworks and NASA's SOHO captured the resulting coronal mass ejection. A magnetic crochet rippled Earth's magnetic field when the flare was in progress.
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03:08
Star Trek Galileo Shuttlecraft To Land At Space Center Houston
Added 801 Views / 0 LikesStar Trek's original prop shuttlecraft will be heading to the Johnson Space Center's visitors attraction, once its restoration team is done. SPACE.com found project leader Adam Schneider and crew in the ship's Atlantic Highlands, NJ "space-dock."
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05:16
Close Mars, Lunar Eclipse And Lyrid Meteors - April 2014 Skywatching Video
Added 801 Views / 0 LikesRed Mars' close encounter with Earth, a 'red moon' total lunar eclipse (visible from North America) and the Lyrid meteor shower will highlight the month of April 2014. Also, the mornings and evenings will showcase Jupiter, Saturn and Venus.
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01:19
Solar 'Spitfire' Snapped By Spacecraft | Video
Added 800 Views / 0 LikesSolar 'Spitfire' Snapped By Spacecraft | Video
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01:21
Rare Super 'Blood Moon' Lunar Eclipse Coming, Last Until 2033
Added 800 Views / 0 LikesRare Super 'Blood Moon' Lunar Eclipse Coming, Last Until 2033
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05:43
Upgraded Space Shuttle 'Pumpkin-Suit' Tested For Asteroid Mission EVA | Video
Added 799 Views / 0 LikesNASA is testing a next generation Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit (MACES), formerly ACES, for possible use on extravehicular activities. Astronauts Stan Love and Steve Bowen, tested the suits underwater in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab.