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Fun to Know! A Collection of Space Trivia [Rec]
A sky full of twinkling stars… Space really is romantic, isn’t it?
When you think, “It stretches on forever, there are countless planets, and I’m living in that vast universe,” doesn’t it oddly make you feel excited?
What kind of world lies beyond this sky, I wonder?
In this article, I’ve put together intriguing mysteries and fun trivia about space!
It’s great for killing time, and also recommended as quiz material for school activity periods!
Enjoy yourself while picking up some knowledge about the cosmos!
Fun to Know! A Collection of Space Trivia [Rec] (1–10)
Feel the scale of the universe
“Space is vast.” That much is obvious—but just how vast is it, really? If you compare yourself to Earth, it goes without saying that Earth is unimaginably large.
The Milky Way galaxy that Earth resides in is said to contain as many as 400 billion planets.
And in recent years, research has suggested there are 2 trillion galaxies beyond the Milky Way.
The numbers are so enormous they’re hard to grasp.
If you use the software “Mitaka,” distributed by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, you can virtually experience the scale and structure of the universe—so definitely give it a try.
Why can we see the Milky Way?
In Japan, the Milky Way is famous as the place where the Tanabata lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, can meet.
In astronomy, the true identity of the Milky Way is the view from Earth of our enormous Galactic system—the galaxy that contains the solar system, which in turn includes the Sun, Earth, and other celestial bodies.
Since Earth is inside the Milky Way, we see it from the inside, which is why it appears as that river-like band in the sky.
There isn’t a single celestial object called the Milky Way; rather, it’s a galaxy made up of countless objects that looks like a river to us.
There’s something quite romantic about that, isn’t there?
Alien Sighting
How far does the universe stretch? As people often say, it wouldn’t be strange if there were life-forms other than humans—in other words, aliens.
With that in mind, I think looking into alien sightings could deepen our understanding of space! There are accounts of UFOs found in old Japanese texts, and reports from other countries that share visual similarities.
You might even gain knowledge on a global scale—if not cosmic.
Maybe it’s a bit too soon to dismiss it all as mere occult stuff!
Earth-like planet
“If we were to live on a planet other than Earth, which would be best…?” That kind of large-scale, spacefaring migration is a topic often featured from fiction to real space science.
But if we were truly to relocate, which planet would be suitable? One candidate is Kepler-438b.
This planet is said to be just under 90% similar to Earth, and its favorable environment has raised hopes that life might exist there! There are many other planets being considered as candidates as well.
Take a look at some books and see if you can find your favorite!
The Secret of Mars
Mars often appears as a setting in novels, manga, and films.
It’s a planet with a reddish appearance that is regularly investigated because there might be water.
How about learning some trivia about Mars? If you look into questions like “Why do people say there might be water?” and “Why is its rotation period—its day—almost the same as Earth’s?”, it may start to feel like a familiar world.
In fact, in movies it’s often portrayed as a potential destination for human colonization.
Once you learn the reasons, that portrayal will make sense.
The mystery of black holes
A black hole is often imagined as something “black that swallows everything.” But some people may find it hard to explain what it actually is.
In fact, a black hole is an astronomical object with extraordinarily strong gravity, not some special entity apart from other celestial bodies.
For example, the Sun produces immense thermal energy, and black holes, too, actually produce energy in the form of what’s called blackbody radiation! Research is even being conducted on how to harness this energy for human life, and it’s exciting to imagine how it might be put to practical use in the future.
Distance between planets
The Moon is about 380,000 km away from Earth, but did you know that the distance between Earth and the Moon can actually fit all the planets like Mercury and Venus in between? In simpler terms, you could line up the familiar planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and so on—right in the space between Earth and the Moon.
This is likely because the sizes of the planets vary greatly, and when you include the smaller ones, their total diameter isn’t as large as you might expect.
It’s a bit mind-bending when you try to picture this trivia, isn’t it?
How was the Moon formed?
The Moon is very familiar to us humans.
While the birth of the universe is often discussed, we surprisingly don’t have many chances to think about the birth of our nearby Moon.
There are various theories about the Moon’s origin, but the leading one today is the Giant Impact Hypothesis proposed in 1970.
It suggests that the Moon formed when the early Earth collided with a Mars-sized body.
Put simply, the Moon is the debris left over from a collision between two celestial bodies.
Other theories are interesting, too, so if you’re curious, give them a look!
Facilities of the ISS
Are you all familiar with the International Space Station, commonly known as the ISS? It’s a crewed artificial satellite orbiting the Earth, and it’s a facility where experiments that can only be done in space are conducted and research on the natural environment is carried out.
In recent years, it made headlines when a private spacecraft successfully docked with it.
Now, since the ISS is a place where people stay, it needs to be well equipped.
For example, just learning about how things like sleeping quarters, a galley, and toilets are set up is enough to make you keep saying, “Wow!”
Diamond planet
It has been determined through subsequent investigations that 55 Cancri e, discovered in 2004, is a planet containing a large amount of diamond.
While this hasn’t been confirmed with the naked eye, applying formulas and experimental results from specialized institutions suggests that diamond strata have formed within the planet.
The idea of an entire star—well, a whole world—made of diamond is truly dreamy.
And since there are countless stars in the universe, it’s believed that there are many other planets composed of diamond, just like 55 Cancri e.