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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03:57
Pluto 'Up-Close' Coming Soon: Spacecraft's Historic Encounter | Video
Added 824 Views / 0 LikesNASA's New Horizon spacecraft left Earth in 2006 and is quickly approaching its fly-by of the icy dwarf plant and its moons. Its closest approach will occur on July 14th, 2015.
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02:02
2 Supermassive Black Holes To Merge When Galaxies Collide | Video
Added 810 Views / 0 LikesTwo Milky Way-sized spiral galaxies (the NGC 6240 system) will eventually become one elliptical galaxy with a mass of 10 billion Suns harboring one mega-singularity. The merger may touch off huge gravity waves. Read more about the merger here: http://goo.
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01:41
Nearest Brown Dwarf Star Shows Moody Atmosphere
Added 808 Views / 0 LikesEuropean Southern Observatory astronomers have mapped the mood of the closest brown dwarf star to the Sun. By comparing atmospheres of stars, scientists may learn to predicting solar weather and our Sun's long term climate variations. -- Read More Here: h
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02:26
Misfit Magnetar Conceals Its 'Allure' Beneath The Surface | Video
Added 848 Views / 0 LikesA highly magnetic neutron star (Magnetar SGR 0418) has a much weaker magnetic field at its surface than others of its kind, but can still muster high-energy flares. Researchers believe a strong magnetic field lies tightly wrapped beneath its surface.
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01:11
Galactic Collisions Fuel Supermassive Black Holes | Video
Added 849 Views / 0 LikesThe graceful gravitational dance of two colliding galaxies can feed the supermassive black holes at their center, rearranging and heating up the gas within these galaxies as seen in this simulation.
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02:39
Inside the Pillars of Creation - Space Telescopes Peer Into Nebula
Added 814 Views / 0 LikesSpace observatories have returned far-infrared (Herschel) and multi-energy x-ray (XMM-Newton) imagery of the Eagle Nebula, birthplace of new star systems, giving astronomers new understanding of processes sculpting the iconic "pillars".
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03:49
Stellar Angel: Young Star's Massive Gas Cloud Spreads Its Wings
Added 791 Views / 0 LikesNow in its final stages of formation, a star named S106 IR is disrupting and illuminating nearby gas and dust clouds in a shape resembling a snow angel. The Hubble Space Telescopes Wide Field Camera 3 captured the image.
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00:57
Dark Cloud Is Creating A Monster Star | Video
Added 778 Views / 0 LikesDark Cloud SDC 335.579-0.292 was observered by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter array (ALMA) in Chile. It is 500 times the mass of the Sun and the largest ever seen in the Milky Way.
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01:22
Star 'Resurrecting' Phoenix Cluster Astounds Astronomers | Video
Added 895 Views / 0 LikesLocated in the constellation of same name, the Phoenix Cluster has come back to life, bursting with new star formation. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the NSF's South Pole Telescope and others studied this huge celestial object.
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03:22
2299 Alien Planets Orbiting One Sun? | Video
Added 772 Views / 0 LikesThat's what the Harvard mind of Alex Parker devised when he put together an animation of most of the Kepler Space Telescope's planet candidates orbiting one star. Distance from each planets actual host star and relative speed is preserved.
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08:42
Most Complex Observatory Releases First Image
Added 806 Views / 0 LikesHumankind's most intricate radio-telescope, ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) captured this image of the colliding Antenna galaxies. Only 22 of ALMA's 66 planned antennas are built; the array will span 16 kilometers of the Chilean high
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00:42
Star's Guts Flipped Inside-Out In Supernova Explosion | Video
Added 793 Views / 0 LikesX-ray observations of supernova Cassiopeia A by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory show that some of the innermost elements are now located near the outer edges of the remnant; proof of the explosion's power
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04:28
Hubble Telescope's Hidden Treasures Revealed | Video
Added 838 Views / 0 LikesAstronomer Joe Liske (aka Dr J) presents the winners of the Hidden Treasures image processing competition, a 2012 contest that challenged the public to find spectacular Hubble Space Telescope images that were never released. See the results here.
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01:24
Most Distant Galaxy: New Candidate Found | Video
Added 928 Views / 0 LikesLikely most distant object known, galaxy MACS0647-JD was recently found by the Great Observatories - Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, looking back to 420 million years after the Big Bang in the region between Ursa Major and Minor.
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01:52
Hubble Spots Galaxies Lined-Up | Video
Added 837 Views / 0 LikesA study of galaxies NGC 3314A and NGC 3314B shows that they are moving independently of each other and are separated by tens of millions of light years. Data derived from Hubble Space Telescope imagery indicates they are not on a collision course.
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06:04
New Horsehead Nebula Image Shows Remarkable Depth | Video
Added 803 Views / 0 LikesIn celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope's 23rd year in orbit, astronomers captured an infrared image of the famous collapsing interstellar cloud. Located in the Orion constellation, it is one of the most recognizable objects in the night sky.
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02:43
Hubble's Extreme Deep Field Sees Farther Back In Time | Video
Added 819 Views / 0 LikesAstronomers have combined Space Telescope exposures taken over a decade to create the deepest look into the Universe yet. Scientists explain how they assembled the XDF (eXtreme Deep Field).
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01:45
Super-Earth May Have Liquid Water | Video
Added 864 Views / 0 LikesA newly discovered "super-Earth" planet, HD 40307g, is in the "Goldilocks Zone;" just the right place to support liquid water. It resides in a system of six worlds orbiting a, stable, elderly dwarf star 44 light years away.
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01:57
Super-Giant Black Hole Discovered | Video
Added 686 Views / 0 LikesThis animation depicts the orbit of a giant, super-massive black hole discovered in the compact galaxy NGC 1277. One second represents 22 million years of time in the simulation. Credit: NASA/ESA/Fabian/Remco C. E. van den Bosch of MPIA (animation)
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02:04
Two Alien Oceanic Earth-Like Planets Found? | Video
Added 803 Views / 0 LikesA planetary system 1200 light years from Earth may contain two worlds entirely covered by global oceans. Kepler 62e and 62f are in the habitable zone of a roughly Sun-like star. Each planet is slightly larger than Earth.