Posts Tagged ‘Zeros’

All You Ever Wanted To Know About Astronomy

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

There must be a lot of astronomy facts right? Realize that the universe contains one times 10 to the 22nd stars, that’s a one followed by a string of 22 zeros. Then consider that many of those stars have planets surrounding them. Then consider the moons that surround the planets, the asteroids, the nebula, the galaxies, and all the other stuff the universe contains. The number of facts and amount of data is staggering. This article, which presents astronomy facts, certainly won’t contain every fact. Walked is here, however, is interesting. Click through here for additional information about leica binoculars.

The data on the brightest star as seen from Earth are good astronomy facts. That’s discounting the Sun which is about 250,000 times closer than the next nearest star. We get so much light from the sun that when it shines none of the other stars can be seen. In a the brightness scale we’ll use, lower numbers are brighter. The sun would be about -26.73, while the full moon is -12.6. All righty then, here’s the top five list.

#5 is the Arabic word for eagle or vulture, Vega. It’s about 25 light years away from the Earth, with a magnitude of .03. When looking at these astronomy facts remember that brightest from Earth doesn’t mean largest or brightest. The sun is only a moderately bright star, but because of its proximity to the Earth it appears to be so bright. You should get complimentary invaluable information on fujinon binoculars here.

#4 goes to Rigel Kentaurus, or foot of the centaur. It scores a magnitude of -.01, and is only 4 light-years from Earth.

At #3, is Arcturus, according to the astronomy facts we know. The name means guardian of the bear in Greek. This star is 37 light years from us.

Canopus sits at number two. Named for the pilots of Jason’s vessel in Jason and the Argonauts, this star is the brightest of all of these top five. However, it’s 313 light-years away from Earth, so it looks second brightest as seen from this planet. It has a -.62 magnitude as seen by humans on this planet. You will obtain tons of complementary valuable information relating to discount binoculars here.

#1 is reserved for serious, meaning scorching in the Greek language. Sirius is also known as the Dog Star because it’s the brightest star in the constellation of Big Dog. At only 9 light-years away from Earth it is the second closest in these top five. At -1.44 magnitude it’s the brightest star we can see from Earth.

This information doesn’t even scratch the surface of astronomy facts. But it’s something to consider next time you look into the sky.

Teaching Your Child About Star Astronomy

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Astronomyis as large as the universe that it seeks to discover.  Star astronomy is just one part of the overall science and hobby.  There are ample phenomenon and objects in just our own solar system to keep someone bust for an entire life time.  That’s why many people decide to focus their attention on the stars.  This is a perfect opportunity to look at  telescopes for beginners and make this a first step in helping your kids appreciate astronomy.

Which Is The Biggest Star?

Star astronomy begins about 94 million miles from Earth, with our own sun.  Its heat is staggering when the amount of heat the earth receives from it over that great distance is realized.  98% of the stuff in our solar system is in the sun.  That includes all the other planets even with huge Jupiter and Saturn on our side.  The sun could hold over 1.3 million Earths.  The nuclear reaction at the Sun’s core comes from pressure 340 billion times that at sea level on earth and temperatures of over 27,000,000°F.  That would burn a pizza in a second.

Since it’s so close to Earth, relatively compared to other suns, the Sun is the most thoroughly studied star.  It’s about 250,000 times closer to Earth than the next known star.  But when you travel far from Earth star astronomy really starts to hum.

A human can see about 5000 stars, all in our own Milky Way galaxy, from Earth.  More of the 1×10^22 stars in the universe can be seen even through a child telescope.  For those who care that’s a 1 followed by 22 zeros.  Even  kids telescopes bring hundreds of thousands of stars to a person’s view.  Imagine that!  Professionals using larger telescopes can see other galaxies that contain over 200 billion stars. It’s a project of generations just to count each one.

The Benefits of Star Astronomy

Scientists now know, through star astronomy, that many stars and planets orbiting them.  Stars wobble when planets orbit them, and that wobbling can be measured.  And in late 2008 astronomers finally took the first pictures of planets orbiting other stars, and even of entire solar systems.  That means yet another step taken towards verifying the existence of other intelligent life out there somewhere in the universe.

About Star Astronomy

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Astronomy in general is a huge subject, as vast as the universe it describes. Star astronomy is just one part of the overall science and hobby. It would take a lifetime just to learn about all the objects that orbit our own small sun.  That’s why many people decide to focus their attention on the stars.

Star astronomy begins about 94 million miles from Earth, with our own sun. Its heat is staggering when the amount of heat the earth receives from it over that great distance is realized. Our own sun contains just over 98% of the total mass in the solar system. That’s compared to all the planets, moons, space rocks and other material. It would take 109 Earths to span the sun’s disk, and over 1.3 million Earths would fit within the sun. The heat is generated from a nuclear reaction in the sun’s core where the pressure is 340 billion times the pressure on Earth and temperatures reach 27,000,000F. That would burn a pizza in a second.

Since it’s so close to Earth, relatively compared to other suns, the Sun is the most thoroughly studied star.  It would take 250,000 times longer to get to the next nearest sun. But the interesting part of stars astronomy is there’s so much to work with beyond our own solar system. From Earth a person with good eyes can see 5000 stars in the Milky Way galaxy.  Using telescope, a person can see far more of the 1×10^22 stars estimated in the universe.  By the way, that’s a 1 followed by 22 zeros.  Even a small amateur telescope brings hundreds of thousands of stars to a person’s view.  Imagine that!  Professionals using larger telescopes can see other galaxies that contain over 200 billion stars. It would take many lifetimes just to count that high.

Star astronomy experts have now proven that many other stars have planets. They know this first through measuring the wobble caused to stars by planets and other objects orbiting them. And in late 2008 astronomers finally took the first pictures of planets orbiting other stars, and even of entire solar systems. That means yet another step taken towards verifying the existence of other intelligent life out there somewhere in the universe.

Will we have a run-in with Romulans next month?  That’s doubtful.  Star astronomy continues, however.  Maybe someone on one of those other planets is watching us!

About Astronomy Facts

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

How many astronomy facts are there for all the objects and phenomenon in the entire universe? To count the stars in the universe we need a one followed by 22 zeros. Then consider that many of those stars have planets surrounding them. Then consider the moons that surround the planets, the asteroids, the nebula, the galaxies, and all the other stuff the universe contains. The number of facts and amount of data is staggering. This article, which presents astronomy facts, certainly won’t contain every astronomy fact. But these are interesting facts.

How about the brightest stars as seen from Earth?  Those are good astronomy facts. That’s discounting the Sun which is about 250,000 times closer than the next nearest star. It’s so bright as seen from Earth that it washes out all the other stars in the sky during a phenomenon called “daylight”. For the purposes of this discussion, lower numbers for brightness mean a brighter star. The sun would be about -26.73, while the full moon is -12.6. With that in mind, here are the top 5.

#5 is the Arabic word for eagle or vulture, Vega. It’s about 25 light years away from the Earth, with a magnitude of .03. Overall, for this discussion of astronomy facts, the truly brightest star may not appear to be so from her. The Sun is not the largest or brightest star in the universe or even the galaxy, yet it appears so bright because it is so near compared to other stars.

#4 is Rigel Kentaurus, that’s Arabic for foot of the centaur. It’s about four light years from Earth with a magnitude of -.01.

At #3, remember this is set in stone as one of the many astronomy facts we have, is Arcturus. The name means guardian of the bear in Greek. This star is 37 light years from us.

Canopus comes in at #2. Of these top five Canopus, a Greek name for the pilot of the vessel Argo made famous in the stories about Jason and the Argonauts, is the brightest. However, it’s 313 light-years away from Earth, so it looks second brightest as seen from this planet. It has a -.62 magnitude as seen by humans on this planet.

#1 is Sirius, meaning scorching in Greek. Because it’s the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, it’s also called the Dog Star. It’s only 9 light years from Earth. That’s second closest of these top five. But from Earth it has a magnitude of -1.44. That makes it easily the brightest star as seen in the night sky.

There are many more astronomy facts out there. But it’s something to consider next time you look into the sky.

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