10 surprising facts about the solar system

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Scientific facts turn out to be a profanation, and the obvious answer is wrong when it comes to the solar system. The problem is that we know that we do not know anything - and only now we are beginning to rediscover the world of the planets around us. But not all that bad: at least ten facts you can be sure.

Mercury is not the hottest planet

Although common sense dictates: the closer to the Sun, the warmer. But it would be worth taking into account other factors, among which is the density of the atmosphere of the planets. So, in Mercury, it is practically absent. Therefore, there is no layer that would keep the planet's temperature at a high level. On the other hand, Venus follows Mercury. The second planet from the Sun has a very dense atmosphere - a hundred times denser than Earth. It is she who plays the role of a kind of "blanket": she covers all Venus and does not allow her to cool down. The surface temperature of Mercury is 427 degrees, and Venus is 464.

USA is bigger than Pluto

From edge to edge of the United States of America - 4,700 kilometers. For Pluto, this value is only 2,300 kilometers. In fact, the width of a dwarf planet is only a small fraction of the width of one country on Earth. Anyway, Pluto is so small that recently the debate about whether it is a planet or not has practically died out.

There are no volcanoes in space

But there are fountains. We, of course, slightly exaggerated, but the essence remains the same. If on Earth a volcanic eruption implies the release of lava, then we understand that we mean a hot liquid, consisting of minerals. The same is true with magma - only it is still saturated with gases. But if we are talking about a volcanic eruption on Io, for example, then water with a large amount of sulfur appears on the surface. On one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus, water with impurities of gas erupts from the volcanoes. There are also cryovolcanoes - ice comes out of their vents. Therefore, technically, most of the volcanoes in the solar system are amazing fountains, in which water occasionally mixes with hot magma.

The solar system does not end with Pluto

If you have children - urgently get an astronomy textbook and correct illustrations. The edge needs to be drawn much, much further than the dwarf planet. It is believed that our system extends 50,000 astronomical units from the Sun. Trans-Neptunian objects and the Kuiper belt are still hidden behind Pluto.

The solar system has a tail

Most of all, it looks like a comet tail, with the difference that this one resembles a four-leaf clover in shape. It is called "helioteil". About him nothing was known for the simple reason that the tail consists of particles invisible to traditional devices. Heliotail stretches 13 billion kilometers from the edge of the solar system. Moreover, its particles are scattered in all directions at a speed of 1.6 million km / h. This is due to strong winds.

There are rocks on Earth from Mars

And we didn’t bring them here. A detailed study of comets that fell in Antarctica and the Sahara Desert showed that it seems that these celestial bodies were originally formed on Mars. Analysis of the substance has revealed a gas that is indistinguishable from the atmosphere of Mars. Perhaps these comets were once part of the red planet or were the result of a volcanic eruption and only later flew to Earth.

The largest sea is on Jupiter

It is here that a huge amount of hydrogen and helium is stored - the planet consists almost exclusively of them. Having estimated the mass and composition of Jupiter, scientists were able to assume that under the clouds of ice there is a sea of liquid hydrogen. Apparently, it is not only the largest in the solar system, but also the deepest. Rough estimates indicate that the depth of this sea is about 40,000 kilometers - that is, the same as the length of the Earth's equator.

One planet is missing

Scientists noticed this: they analyzed the orbits of the gas giants and realized that they did not coincide with most of the existing models. According to the researchers, this indicates that there was another planet in the solar system, and its mass was several tens of times greater than that of the earth. This putative planet is called Tycho. It is believed that it was thrown into interstellar space and now it continues its movement there. But if Tycho had been there, we wouldn't have seen her anyway. It would be far beyond Pluto, and one revolution around the Sun would take millions of years.

Diamond showers on Uranus and Pluto

This is exactly the conclusion that astronomers made when they learned that huge oceans of liquid carbon are located on these planets. Studies and calculations have shown that small diamond “icebergs” float on carbon “waves”. In addition, due to physical processes, carbon rains should also occur over the planets. So there may well be precipitation in the form of tiny diamonds.

We actually live inside the sun

Of course, we usually imagine this star as a huge red-hot ball that is somewhere there and gives us the opportunity to get up and go to work in the morning. However, it is worth reconsidering your attitude towards the Sun. After all, it also has an outer shell that extends much further than our planet. Each flash of a bright star provokes the northern lights on Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Therefore, scientists believe that we live in the heliosphere - and its radius is about 100 astronomical units.

Adapted from Article World.