Bits And Pieces

Are you ready for another offering of bite-sized bits of information? Most of you know some of this information, some of you know all of it. Hopefully I can give you a nugget or two of bright, shiny, new information to take with you.

For instance; did you know…

A Space Shuttle’s main engine weighs about 1/7th as much as a train engine, but can deliver as much horsepower as 39 locomotives.

Golf is the only sport to have been “played” on the moon. On February 6, 1971, Alan Shepard hit a golf ball.

After the heliosphere, the Jovian magnetosphere is the largest continuous structure in the solar system. The sun and its visible corona would fit inside with room to spare.

NASA, Neil Armstrong descending the lunar ladder to take the first step on the moon

The footprints the astronauts left on the moon should last several million years… unless they get plowed under by a meteor strike.

In space, no one can hear you scream. They won’t see you cry, either. Tears don’t “flow” in microgravity — your eyes will just get watery.

Pluto’s “year” is 248.09 Earth years, the second longest in the solar system. The longest “year” is the cosmic year (also “galactic year”); the time it takes the sun to revolve around the Galactic center… about 225 to 250 million years.

Death Valley view of Milky Way, Sailing Stone in foreground, image by National Park Service

Gorgeous enlargement on this Death Valley image, by the way.

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Uranus is “tipped over”, so that at any moment one of its poles if facing the sun. Because of this, one day on Uranus lasts about 42 Earth years, followed by a 42-year night.

The pressure at the center of the Earth is about 27,000 tons psi, while the pressure at the center of the Sun is about 700 million tons psi; pressure enough with some to spare for stellar ignition.

To reach escape velocity from the Earth, a space craft must travel at least Mach 34 (34 times the speed of sound), about 25,000 mph (11.2 k/s).

NASA, the Vela Pulsar

The neutrons of a Pulsar are so densely packed together, if one the size of a silver dollar landed on Earth it would weigh about 100 million tons.

The only animal historically known to have been directly killed by a meteor strike is a dog in Nakhla, Egypt, in 1911.

The largest known star is VY Canis Majoris, a red hypergiant, 1,800 to 2,100 solar radii.

NASA, Vy Canis Majoris compared to the Sun

Did you learn anything new, exciting, or different? What are some interesting bits of information you’ve carried around? Come on… share with the rest of us!

You can read the entire story here