Major astronomical discoveries: from the time of Galileo to the present day. Astronomy - what kind of science

If you think that physics is boring, then this article is for you. We will tell you interesting facts that will help you take a fresh look at an unloved subject.

want more useful information and fresh news every day? Join us on telegram.

#1: Why is the Sun red at night?

Actually, the light from the sun is white. White light in its spectral decomposition is the sum of all the colors of the rainbow. In the evening and morning, the rays pass through the low surface and dense layers of the atmosphere. Dust particles and air molecules thus act as a red filter, best passing through the red component of the spectrum.

#2: where did atoms come from?

When the universe was formed, there were no atoms. Were only elementary particles, and that's not all. The atoms of the elements of almost the entire periodic table were formed during nuclear reactions in the interiors of stars, when lighter nuclei turn into heavier ones. We ourselves are made up of atoms formed in deep space.

#3: How much "dark" matter is there in the world?

We live in material world and everything that is around is matter. You can touch it, sell it, buy it, you can build something. But in the world there is not only matter, but also dark matter. She doesn't radiate electromagnetic radiation and does not interact with it.

Dark matter, for obvious reasons, has not been touched or seen. Scientists decided that it exists, observing some indirect signs. It is believed that dark matter occupies about 22% of the composition of the universe. For comparison: the good old matter familiar to us takes only 5%.

#4: What is the temperature of lightning?

And so it is clear that it is very high. According to science, it can reach 25,000 degrees Celsius. This is many times more than on the surface of the Sun (there are only about 5000). We strongly do not recommend trying to check what temperature the lightning has. There are specially trained people in the world for this.

There is! Considering the scale of the Universe, the probability of this was previously estimated quite high. But it's only relatively recently that humans have begun to discover exoplanets.

Exoplanets revolve around their stars in the so-called "life zone". More than 3,500 exoplanets are now known, and more and more are being discovered.

#6: How old is the Earth?

The earth is about four billion years old. In this context, one fact is interesting: the largest unit of time is the kalpa. Kalpa (otherwise - the day of Brahma) is a concept from Hinduism. According to him, the day is replaced by a night equal to it in duration. At the same time, the duration of the day of Brahma with an accuracy of 5% coincides with the age of the Earth.

By the way! If there is a catastrophic lack of time for study, pay attention. For our readers there is now a 10% discount on


#7: Where Do Aurora Borealis Come From?

The aurora borealis, or northern lights, is the result of the interaction of the solar wind (cosmic radiation) with the Earth's upper atmosphere.

Charged particles from space collide with atoms in the atmosphere, causing them to become excited and emit light. This phenomenon is observed at the poles, as the Earth's magnetic field "captures" particles, protecting the planet from being "bombarded" by cosmic rays.

#8: Is it true that the water in the sink swirls in different directions in the northern and southern hemispheres?

Actually it is not. Indeed, there is a Coriolis force acting on the fluid flow in a rotating frame of reference. On the scale of the Earth, the action of this force is so small that it is possible to observe the swirling of water during runoff in different directions only under very carefully selected conditions.

#9: How is water different from other substances?

One of the fundamental properties of water is its density in solid and liquid states. Thus, ice is always lighter than liquid water, therefore it is always on the surface and does not sink. And also, hot water freezes faster than cold. This paradox, called the Mpemba effect, has not yet found an exact explanation.

#10: How does speed affect time?

The faster an object moves, the slower time will go for it. Here we can recall the paradox of twins, one of which traveled in an ultrafast spaceship, and the second remained on the ground. When the space traveler returned home, he found his brother an old man. The answer to the question why this happens is given by the theory of relativity and relativistic mechanics.


We hope our 10 facts about physics helped to make sure that these are not only boring formulas, but the whole world around us.

However, formulas and tasks can be a hassle. To save time, we have collected the most popular formulas and prepared a memo for solving physical problems.

And if you are tired of strict teachers and endless tests, contact us, which will help you quickly solve even tasks of increased complexity.

Secondary general education

Astronomy (11)

Major astronomical discoveries: from the time of Galileo to the present day

The material was prepared on the basis of a webinar by astrophysicist, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, researcher at the SAI MSU, professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Borisovich Popov.

Dear colleagues! In accordance with the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation No. 506 dated June 7, 2017 "On amendments to the federal component of state educational standards primary general, basic general and secondary (complete) general education, approved by order of the Ministry of Education Russian Federation dated March 5, 2004 No. 1089 "the course of astronomy becomes mandatory for studying in high school high school. You can read the full text of the order.

Astronomy is an observational science, the main thing in it is discoveries, as a result of which there is a change in old ideas. Not all discoveries are unexpected, so the latest discoveries - the Higgs boson and gravitational waves - were preceded by a long preparation. But still, astronomical discoveries are, as a rule, unexpected, contradictory common sense changing the picture of the world. Which of them can be included in the ten greatest in the history of mankind?

1. Galileo's discoveries: spots on the Sun, mountains on the Moon, satellites of Jupiter, phases of Venus, stars in the Milky Way

In the 17th century, people first looked through a telescope, many saw what was happening in the sky. But Galileo treated the observations most responsibly, so the discoveries are marked with his name. It became clear that the Earth is not the center of rotation of everything in the world. The sun, firstly, also rotates, and secondly, it itself is imperfect: there are spots on it! The imperfection of the key space object of that time struck Galileo's contemporaries most of all. It became clear that the Moon is not a perfect sphere. The news of the phases of Venus proved the rotation of Venus around the Sun, that is, the correctness of Copernicus. And further: the Milky Way turned out to be a lot of faint stars, and this changed the naive attitude towards the visible world: the human eye is not adapted to perceive everything that exists, not everything can be seen and understood without instruments.

In 1837, reliable measurements of the annual parallax were made for the first time. Russian astronomer Vasily Yakovlevich Struve (1793-1864) made these measurements for the brightest star Northern Hemisphere Vega (a Lyrae). Almost simultaneously in other countries, the parallaxes of two more stars were determined, one of which was a Centauri. This star, which is not visible from the territory of Russia, turned out to be the closest to us. Even her annual parallax was only 0.75ʺ. At such an angle, a wire 1 mm thick is visible to the naked eye from a distance of 280 m. Therefore, it is not surprising that such small angular displacements could not be noticed for so long. More information - Astronomy. Grade 11. Textbook (Line UMK B. A. Vorontsov-Velyaminov)


4. Interstellar medium

Astronomers of the early 20th century imagined the interstellar void, allowing for interstellar dust. In 1904, Johann Hartmann was able to take the spectrum, dissect the radiation and detect the gas: the interstellar medium exists. This makes it difficult to observe. Without this knowledge, it would be impossible to build a correct scheme of our Galaxy.

Free teaching materials:



5. World of galaxies

Even 100 years ago, people were not sure about the existence of different galaxies. The famous debate between Curtis and Shelley about nebulae ended in nothing, and only later was Curtis correct: giant nebulae are other galaxies. In the 1920s, Edwin Hubble discovered traces of several galaxies, and the discovery of the expansion of galaxies was one step away.



7. Relic radiation

In the 60s of the XX century, it became reliably known that the entire Universe is expanding: earlier, at each of its points, the density was greater and the temperature was higher. What is more important - quantity or temperature? Scientists Alfer and Gamow proved that the radiation that dominated after a thermonuclear reaction did not go away, it is very easy to detect it (they all encountered noise through radio antennas), but it was necessary to recognize it and call it: relic radiation. Astronomers have received another tool to study the universe. Illustration: G. Gamov in a photo from a textbookAstronomy. Grade 11. Textbook (Line UMK B. A. Vorontsov-Velyaminov )

In 1948, in the works of Georgy Antonovich Gamov (1904-1968) and his collaborators, a hypothesis was put forward that the matter in the Universe at the initial stages of expansion had not only a high density, but also high temperature. So, after 0.1 s after the start of expansion, the temperature was about 3 1010 K. At such a high temperature, the interaction of high-energy photons, which were many in hot matter, led to the formation of pairs of all known particles and antiparticles: electron - positron, neutrino - antineutrino etc. During the annihilation of these pairs, photons were born again, and protons and neutrons, interacting with them, turned into each other. More information - Astronomy. Grade 11. Textbook (Line UMK B. A. Vorontsov-Velyaminov)



8. Neutron stars

They have been opened several times. A neutron star is a star where nature has stopped the changes. They incorporate all physics, they are associated with the study of radio pulsars, the registration of gravitational waves, the exact time, the theory of the behavior of substances at high density, processes in a strong magnetic field.

The radiation of a pulsar (a kind of neutron stars that is emitted in a narrow cone, the observer sees only when, during the rotation of the star, this cone is directed at him like the light of a beacon. The substance of pulsars consists of neutrons formed during soami, closely pressed to each other by gravitational forces The diameters of such neutron stars are only 20-30 km, and the density is close to nuclear and can exceed 1018 kg / m3. Thus, neutron stars are one of those objects in the Universe that provide scientists with the opportunity to study the behavior of matter under conditions that are still unattainable in terrestrial laboratories More information - Astronomy Grade 11 Textbook



The main discovery of the end of the XX century. These are planets that revolve around another bright star, which makes them hard to see. The first one was opened in 1995. They are completely different from us, giant gas planets that revolve around their star very quickly, a circle in a few hours. They probably formed somewhere far away, and then somehow attracted to the star - but how? Why? Lots of secrets.

Now the efforts of scientists are aimed at searching for planets that are similar in size and mass to the Earth and are located close to the stars, which would provide the conditions necessary for the existence of life on the surface of the planet. For this purpose, the Kepler spacecraft was launched, on which a photometer with a sensitivity of 10–5 was installed. It allows you to notice the weakening of the flow of light from a star, caused by the passage of planets across its disk, by only one hundred-thousandth of it. More information - Astronomy. Grade 11. Textbook (Line UMK B. A. Vorontsov-Velyaminov)



10. Accelerated expansion of the universe

Speaking about the future of the Universe, different scenarios are offered. The universe is expanding, but gravity prevents it. It all depends on whether the density of the substance is enough or not. Maybe it will expand and reach a long-term constancy? Scientists assumed that there is SOMETHING in the universe that makes it expand, some kind of repulsion, antigravity works. In 1998, dark energy was discovered (during the explosion of white superdwarfs) - 70% of the medium is associated with dark energy, which is the density component (gravity condition).

The studies made it possible to find out that by its nature dark energy is practically homogeneous, in contrast to the other two components of the Universe - "ordinary" and dark matter, which are distributed in outer space inhomogeneously, forming stars, galaxies and other objects. It can be considered that dark energy is a property of space itself. More information - Astronomy. Grade 11. Textbook (Line UMK B. A. Vorontsov-Velyaminov)

Not included in the list: dark matter and black holes, cosmic rays and neutrinos, the emergence of spectral analysis, all-wave observations, quasars. Because these phenomena are not yet fully discovered. And if we talk about the teaching of astronomy, then we will remember: the content of this discipline becomes outdated and changes very quickly - a stable textbook is hardly possible.

Recorded by Lyudmila Kozhurina

*Since May 2017, the Russian Textbook corporation has united the DROFA-VENTANA publishing group, the Astrel publishing house, the DROFA - New School company and the LECTA digital educational platform. Main mission corporations - comprehensive support for Russian teachers, the creation of the best textbooks, educational solutions and socially significant projects. Together with teachers, we help lay the foundation for a successful future for Russian children at all levels of preschool and school education.

Astrophysics - comparatively young science. But it was she who began to study interesting facts about the planets of the solar system, everything about their structure and composition. Distinguished from astronomy, she is engaged in physical composition of celestial bodies.

The sky has always been the object of close attention and interest of mankind. The stars have been observed since the time of the mythical Atlantis. The structure of celestial bodies, the trajectories of their movement, the change of seasons on Earth - all this was attributed to the influence of stars. Many theories were confirmed, others were discarded. Over time, they discovered that the Earth not the only planet in our galaxy.

In contact with

List of celestial bodies

Going to description interesting features each, you need to list all the small and large solar system planets. A table indicating the position from the sun will be placed just below. Here we restrict ourselves to alphabetical enumeration:

  • Venus;
  • Earth;
  • Mars;
  • Mercury;
  • Neptune;
  • Saturn;
  • Jupiter;
  • Uranus.

Attention! It is noteworthy that the top three included bodies on which, according to science fiction writers, people will settle over time. Scientists doubt this option, but everything is subject to science fiction.

Curious facts

Movie " Carnival Night Everyone has seen it, so there is no need to retell the plot. But even in terms of the celebration of the New Year, which is discussed in the film, there should be a report on the topic: "Is there life on Mars?"

What happened to the lecturer and the report itself is well known to the audience. The news often contains information about Mars.

Astronomical information also includes the fact that it rotates on the fourth, if you count the trajectory from the Sun, belongs to the terrestrial group etc.

Mars

Interestingly, all the names of the nearest planets are named after the ancient Roman gods. Mars - god of war ancient mythology. There is some confusion as many consider him to be a god of fertility. Both of them are right. The Romans considered him the god of fertility, who could both destroy and save the crop. Then, already in ancient Greek mythology, he received the name Ares (Mars) - the god of war.

Attention! The Red Planet - Mars acquired its unofficial name due to the high content of iron on the surface, which gives it a reddish tint. The god received his formidable name in the mythology of Greece for the same reason. The reddish hue resembled the color of blood.

Few know that the first spring month named after the god of fertility. It sounds the same in almost every language. Mars - March, Mars - March.

Mars is considered one of the most interesting planets in the solar system for children:

  1. The highest point on earth three times lower than the highest point of Mars. Mount Everest is over 8 km high. Mount Olympus (Mars) - 27 km.
  2. Due to weaker gravity on Mars you can jump three times higher.
  3. Like Earth, Mars has 4 seasons. Each lasts 6 months, and the whole a year is 687 earth days(2 earth years -365x2=730).
  4. It has its own Bermuda Triangle. Of every three satellites launched towards it, only one returns. Two disappear.
  5. Moons of Mars (two of them) revolve around it at about the same speed towards each other. Because orbital radii are different, they never collide.

Venus

An inexperienced user will immediately answer that the most hot planet solar system, this is the first from the sun - Mercury. However our Earth's twin Venus will easily give him a head start. Mercury has no atmosphere, and although it 44 days heated by the Sun, the same number of days it spends on cooling (Year on Mercury - 88 days). Venus due to the presence of an atmosphere with a high content of carbon dioxide keeps the temperature constant.

Attention! Located between Mercury and the Earth, Venus is almost constantly under a "greenhouse" cap. Temperatures hover around 462 degrees. For comparison, lead melts at 327 degrees.

Venus Facts:

  1. She has no satellites, but itself so bright that it can cast a shadow.
  2. A day on it lasts more than a year - 243 Earth days(year - 225).
  3. 3. All planets in the solar system rotate counterclockwise. . Only Venus spins the other way.
  4. The wind speed can reach 360 km/h.

Mercury

Mercury - first planet from the sun. Consider interesting information about him:

  1. Despite being dangerously close to a hot neighbor, he there are glaciers.
  2. Mercury boasts geysers. Because there is no oxygen They are made up of pure hydrogen.
  3. American research satellites spotted the presence of a small magnetic field.
  4. Mercury is eccentric. Its trajectory has an ellipse, the maximum diameter of which is almost twice the minimum.
  5. Mercury is wrinkled and, since it has a minimum thickness of the atmosphere. As a result the inner core is cooling, shrinking. Therefore, his robe was covered with wrinkles, the height of which can reach hundreds of meters.

Saturn

Saturn, despite the minimum amount of light and heat, not covered by glaciers, since its main components are gases: helium and hydrogen. It is one of the ringed planets in the solar system. Galileo, who first saw the planet, suggested that the rings are a trace of the movement of two satellites, but they rotate very quickly.

Curious information:

  1. Shape of Saturn oblate ball. This is due to the rapid rotation of the celestial body around its axis. Its diameter in the widest part is 120 thousand km, in the narrowest - 108 thousand km.
  2. It ranks second in the solar system in terms of the number of its satellites - 62 pieces. At the same time, there are giants larger than Mercury, and there are very little ones with a diameter of up to 5 km.
  3. The main decoration of the gas giant are its rings.
  4. Saturn 760 times more earth .
  5. Its density is second only to water.

Researchers have proposed an interesting interpretation of the last two facts in teaching children:

  • If you create a bag the size of Saturn, then it would fit exactly 760 balls, the diameter of which is equal to the globe.
  • If a giant bathtub comparable to its size was filled with water, then Saturn would float on the surface.

Pluto

Of particular interest is Pluto.

Until the end of the twentieth century, it was considered the most farthest planet from the sun, but in connection with the discovery of the second asteroid belt beyond Neptune, in which fragments were found with a weight and diameter exceeding Pluto, since the beginning of the 21st century it has been transferred to the status of dwarf planets.

An official name for bodies of this size has yet to be invented. At the same time, this "fragment" has five of its satellites. One of them - Charon, in its parameters is almost equal to Pluto itself.

There is no planet in our system with blue sky, except for the Earth and ... Pluto. In addition, it is noted that Pluto has a lot of ice. Unlike the ice sheets of Mercury, this ice is frozen water, since the planet is quite far from the main body.

Jupiter

But the most interesting planet is Jupiter:

  1. He has rings. Five of them are fragments of meteorites approaching him. Unlike the rings of Saturn, they do not contain ice.
  2. Jupiter's moons are named after mistresses ancient greek god after which it is named.
  3. It is the most dangerous for radio and magnetic devices. Its magnetic field can damage the instruments of a ship that tries to approach it.
  4. The speed of Jupiter is also curious. The days on it are only 10 hours, and the year is the time during which the orbit around a star, 12 years.
  5. The mass of Jupiter is several times greater than the weight of all the other planets revolving around the Sun.

Earth

Interesting facts.

  1. The South Pole - Antarctica, contains almost 90% of all ice on the globe. Almost 70% of the world's fresh water is also located there.
  2. longest mountain range is under water. Its length is more than 600,000 km.
  3. The longest range on land is the Himalayas (over 2500 km),
  4. The Dead Sea is the second deepest point in the world. its bottom located at 400 meters below ocean level.
  5. Scientists suggest that our celestial body used to have two moons. After a collision with him, the second crumbled and became an asteroid belt.
  6. Many years ago Earth was not green-blue, as in today's images from space, but purple, due to the large number of bacteria.

These are not all interesting facts about the planet Earth. Scientists can tell more than one hundred curious, sometimes funny information.

gravity

The simplest interpretation of this term is attraction.

People walk on a horizontal surface because it attracts. The thrown stone sooner or later still falls - gravity action. If you are unsure of riding a bicycle, then you fall - gravity again.

The solar system and gravity are interconnected. celestial bodies have their own orbits around the star.

Without gravity, there would be no orbits. All this swarm flying around our luminary would have scattered in different directions.

Attraction also manifests itself in the fact that all planets have round shape. Gravity depends on distance: several pieces of any substance are mutually attracted, resulting in a ball.

Table of length of day and years

It is clear from the table that the farther the object is from the main luminary, the shorter the day and longer years. Which planet has the most short year? On Mercury it is only 3 earth months. Scientists have not yet been able to confirm or refute this figure, because not a single terrestrial telescope will be able to constantly observe it. The proximity of the main luminary will certainly disable the optics. The data are received by means of space research vehicles.

The length of the day also depends on body diameter and its rotation speed. The white planets of the Solar System (terrestrial type), whose names are presented in the first four cells of the table, have a rocky structure and a rather slow speed.

10 interesting facts about the solar system

Our solar system: The planet Uranus

Conclusion

The giant planets located beyond the asteroid belt are mostly gaseous, due to which they rotate faster. At the same time, the entire quadruple has poles and an equator revolve with different speed . On the other hand, since they are located at a greater distance from the star, they take quite a long time to complete the orbit.

All space objects are interesting in their own way, and each of them contains some kind of mystery. Their study is a long and very entertaining process, which every year reveals new secrets of the Universe to us.

Interesting Facts astronomy attracts a large number of readers. The mysteries of space have excited the imagination of people for a very long time. Is there life on other planets, how to get to neighboring galactic systems and what is still there - high in the sky? These and many other questions still remain unanswered. In this article, we will consider only reliable known facts about space.

The moon always faces the earth on one side

This fact has long been scientifically explained. It consists in the fact that the period of rotation of the Moon around the Earth is 27.3 days. The period of rotation of the Moon around its axis is equal to the period of its revolution around the Earth - 27.3 days. Because of this, we see only one hemisphere of the moon, which is called the visible. The hemisphere that we cannot see is called

The moon is moving away from the earth

Another interesting fact of astronomy. Over the past 25 years, scientists have taken measurements that indicate that it is growing and moving away from the Earth. Studies indicate that the separation occurs at 4 centimeters per year.

At the same time, scientists suggest that in a few billion years the sun will enter a special phase called the "red giant". During this period, under the influence of the increased atmosphere of the Sun, the Moon and the Earth will again approach each other. But during this approach, the Moon can be torn into pieces, from which a ring is formed around the Earth, similar to the ring of Saturn.

Dust

Studies have shown that tons of interplanetary dust annually reach the Earth's surface. A large number of asteroids flying around the sun are between Mars and Jupiter. On impact, they shatter into fragments that are pulled inwards. solar system. Flying at great speed past the Earth, dust and stones crash into the atmosphere and burn up. This is what we see when it seems to us that a star is falling from the sky. Those fragments that move slowly are able to survive thanks to the gravitational force of our planet.

Olympus on Mars

It is considered an extinct volcano of Mars called Olympus. Its height reaches 27 kilometers, which is 3 times higher than Everest. In diameter, Olympus occupies 540 kilometers, almost the whole of France can fit in such a territory.

The mountain on Mars is so big that no matter where you are, you won't see the end of it. Olympus was formed for many millions of years, during which there was low tectonic activity in the place of its formation. And it is quite possible that the volcano is still in action.

Near Olympus there are several more huge volcanoes: Arsia, Pavonis and Askerus. Each of them can have the title of "giant".

Venus

Our closest space neighbor has serious cloud cover. Previously, scientists believed that the planet had a lot of wet places and vegetation. But after research, it turned out that there are no plants there, because unbearable heat reigns on the planet, reaching 480 ° Celsius. And the basis of the planet's relief is rocks. And what is most interesting, there are real acid rains here.

On Venus, the cloud cover is made up of sulfuric acid, not water. But the acid does not have time to reach the surface, at the temperature that prevails on the planet, it evaporates almost immediately.

Gravity is unevenly distributed over the Earth's surface

Scientists learned about this interesting fact of astronomy when they noticed that a person in certain places can feel heavier than in others. A smaller effect of the gravitational force can be observed near the coast of India, and an increased effect - in the south side. Pacific Ocean. Why this happens is still unknown. In March 2002, scientists launched the GRACE satellite, which continuously measures the Earth's gravitational field. Perhaps soon there will be new discoveries in this area.

The earth is slowing down

Another interesting fact of astronomy. Our planet is constantly affected by other planets, the Moon and the Sun. This affects the speed of rotation of the Earth around its axis. AT different periods time it differs. For example, at present, the earth day has decreased by hundredths of a second. This suggests that angular velocity The earth has risen. The reasons for this phenomenon have not yet been established. The slowdown of the planet occurs in January and February.

Earth's electric charge

It has long been proven that the Earth has negative charge. During good weather, electricity flows between our planet and the air in such a way that the charge should be dissipated. It turns out that the electricity leaving the Earth must somehow be restored, because otherwise it would end.

Scientists came up with the idea that lightning charges restore the current. A few years ago, a study was carried out: with the help of Air Force aircraft, electricity was measured in the air above thunderheads. The instruments recorded a current that moved in a different direction from the direction of the current in clear weather. After calculations, scientists came to the conclusion that all thunderstorms occurring at the same time generate a current of 1500 A. This is quite enough to save the earth's charge.

1. Where did the Universe come from? Scientists believe that the Big Bang happened about 14 billion years ago. It was at this moment that stars and planets appeared. Scientists today cannot answer the question of why this happened.

2. Solar system. It contains 8 planets that revolve around the Sun, and the force of gravity allows them to stay in their place. The first four planets are rocks, you can move on them, four distant planets have a gas structure, that is, stepping on them, you can fail. Gas giants are much larger than the Earth and are very far from each other.

3. First landing on the moon. It is believed that on July 21, 1969, American astronauts were the first people to walk on the moon. They were wearing special spacesuits and equipment that allowed them to do this. On Earth, all this is very heavy to wear, and on the Moon, the heaviness was almost not felt.

4. Milky Way. All the stars that are visible from our planet are part of large groups, otherwise they are called galaxies. The Milky Way is our galaxy, shaped like a fireworks pinwheel. It contains a lot of stars. It, like the planets, constantly rotates, however, very slowly. To see it in the night sky, you need to go out into the open space and look into the sky, a milky streak of light will be visible there.

5. Another interesting fact for children about space: the Sun and the Earth. Every day you can watch the sun pass through the sky. But it's not. The sun actually stands still, and the Earth revolves around it and around its axis at the same time. In one day, our planet makes a complete revolution around itself and shows the Sun all its sides. That's why the sun rises and sets.

Astronomy has always been the most mysterious and controversial science. How many scientists have suffered for their love of the stars and the desire to know the cosmos! Today, huge amounts of money are spent on the study of the Universe. In astronomy, interesting facts are known even to a schoolboy, but we are constantly learning something new about the movement of comets and asteroids.

How many planets are in the solar system?

Eight since 2006. The ninth planet, Pluto, has been classified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union. Astronomical ABC: a planet is an object that revolves around the sun, has a spherical shape and can "clear" its orbit of other objects. Pluto does not meet the last requirement.

Not only Saturn has rings.

What planets have rings? Of course, Saturn. But it turns out that Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have them, just not as noticeable. Jupiter's rings are made up of dark dust particles and fragments of small asteroids, and were first discovered by Voyager 1. Neptune's rings are dark, but they could be seen from Earth. The rings of Uranus are located between the complex system of Saturn's rings and the simple systems of Jupiter and Neptune.

Not all planets in the solar system move in the same direction.

It is generally accepted that all planets and asteroids move around the Sun in the same direction. But there is one exception - Halley's comet. If you look at North Pole Earth "from above", it turns in the opposite direction, clockwise.

About the rotation of the planets.

Most planets rotate like a top, which provides them with a slight divergence in the plane of the equator and orbit. However, Uranus behaves differently. The plane of its equator is located at an angle of 98° to the plane of the orbit. This makes the planet look like a rolling ball. Therefore, at the moment of the solstice, one of the poles of Uranus is directed directly to the Sun, and six months later, the polar day occurs in the other hemisphere.

Every planet has its time.

Another interesting fact in astronomy concerns time. Venus has a much slower rate of rotation around its axis than the rate at which it revolves around the Sun. That is why a day on this planet lasts more than a year. On Mercury, time also drags on longer. For a year, it makes one and a half revolutions around its axis. This means that two years of Earth life is equal to three days on Mercury.

Most of the mass of the entire solar system is concentrated in the sun.

In my own way chemical composition The solar system is mainly hydrogen and helium. The Sun accounts for 99.86% of the total mass of the solar system. It consists of 75% hydrogen, 25% helium, and less than 1% other elements.

The sun is one and the stars of the Milky Way.

There are 200 billion such stars in total, and they are at a great distance from each other. The closest star system to us is Alpha Centauri. It is located at a distance of 4.4 light years from Earth. The distance to Barnard's Star is 5.9 light years. Then come WISE 1049-5319 - 6.5 light years, Wolf359 - 7.8 light years, Lalande 21185 - 8.3 light years, Sirius - 8.6 light years, Leuthen 726-8 - 8.7 light years and, finally, Ross 154 - 9.7 light years.