Our galaxy the Milky Way, along with Earth, are travelling through space at approximately 530 km’s per second. This means that according to the geography of the Universe, one minute ago we were located around 19,000 km’s from here now.
Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda galaxy, otherwise known as M31, is the closest major galaxy to our own galaxy the Milky Way. It lies 2.9 million light-years from our own galaxy and it has a diameter of 250,000 light years. It has a magnitude of 3.4 when viewed in the night sky. It is approximately twice the width of our galaxy and it has been studied longer than any other galaxy because of its proximity, size and brightness. However, it is not as big as our own galaxy.
It is estimated that the black hole in the centre of the Andromeda galaxy is the size of 30 million Suns. The Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way are moving towards each other and it is estimated that they will collide and coalesce in around 5 billion years. It was difficult to calculate where exactly the M31 galaxy lay in relation to our own, as both were so close to each other, but in 1923 Edwin Hubble calculated and proved that the Andromeda galaxy lay outside our own galaxy by measuring the luminosities of its Cepheid stars against their true apparent magnitude. Other similar spiral galaxies to be found in the Universe are Bode’s, Pinwheel, Spindle and Black Eye galaxies.
FAR OUT FACT #07
Largest Mountain: The largest mountain (and Volcano) in the Solar system is Mount Olympus found on planet Mars by the Mariner 9 spacecraft. It has a height of 27 km tall and is 3 times the height of Mount Everest.
The Planet Mercury
The planet Mercury is the closest planet to our Sun at an average distance of 58 million km’s. It is composed mainly of iron and because of its density of iron most likely has a solid iron core. Mercury has the widest ranges of temperatures on the surface ranging between 430 degrees Celsius during the day and -180 degrees at night. There is literally no shielding atmosphere on the planet keeping any gases produced from escaping.
Mercury has a solar orbit (a year) of a period of 88 days and has a diameter of 4,875 km’s wide. It has a rotation period of 59 Earth days. Because of its slow orbit and vertical rotation some parts and craters near the polar regions of the planet never see sunlight. This also means that Mercury has no seasons.
The planet Mercury has no moons and the evidence of its large surface craters tells us that it has been bombarded by many meteorites and asteroids in the past. During the last billion years Mercury’s volcanic eruptions and lava flow have ceased making it a tectonically inactive planet.
NASA’s Mariner 10 is the only spacecraft to visit Mercury mapping only one side of the planet and sending images and television pictures back to Earth in the year 1974. NASA’s Messenger spacecraft is currently carrying out a fly-by and will be sending more images and information back to Earth in September this year.
Mercury has a solar orbit (a year) of a period of 88 days and has a diameter of 4,875 km’s wide. It has a rotation period of 59 Earth days. Because of its slow orbit and vertical rotation some parts and craters near the polar regions of the planet never see sunlight. This also means that Mercury has no seasons.
The planet Mercury has no moons and the evidence of its large surface craters tells us that it has been bombarded by many meteorites and asteroids in the past. During the last billion years Mercury’s volcanic eruptions and lava flow have ceased making it a tectonically inactive planet.
NASA’s Mariner 10 is the only spacecraft to visit Mercury mapping only one side of the planet and sending images and television pictures back to Earth in the year 1974. NASA’s Messenger spacecraft is currently carrying out a fly-by and will be sending more images and information back to Earth in September this year.
FAR OUT FACT #06
What’s an AU? An AU (Astronomical Unit) is a unit of length that is used to measure huge distances. One AU is equal to 150 million Km’s, which is on average the mean distance between the Sun and the Earth.
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The Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud
The Kuiper Belt is a region located around the planets of our Solar System whereby icy comet-like objects and bodies are found. The largest object found in the Kuiper Belt so far is the dwarf planet Eris.
The Oort Cloud is a collection of an estimated one trillion long-period objects that surround, enter and leave our Solar System. Many of theses objects are left-over comets of Neptune and are on their way to the stars.
In 2003 when the object or planetoid Sedna was discovered, it was photographed as being the most distant object in the Solar System at 90 times further away from the sun than Earth was (90 AU’s).
The Oort Cloud is a collection of an estimated one trillion long-period objects that surround, enter and leave our Solar System. Many of theses objects are left-over comets of Neptune and are on their way to the stars.
In 2003 when the object or planetoid Sedna was discovered, it was photographed as being the most distant object in the Solar System at 90 times further away from the sun than Earth was (90 AU’s).
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