I’m still sick. I need some space.
So here’s some space.
Today’s Moment of Science… Hey, did you know? Random Space Shit edition.
The average temperature of the universe is about 2.73K. Which is about -270°C. Which is referred to in my New England hometown as ‘sweatshirt weather.’
It takes 59 Earth days for Mercury to spin on its axis once, and 88 Earth days to orbit the sun. But a neat quirk of how this slow spin and fast year interact? A solar day, as in one full day-night cycle on Mercury, lasts 176 Earth days. Whether we’re very old or very young in Mercury years is up for debate, but if we were on Mercury I think the answer is we’d be burnt to a goddamn crisp.
The planets in our solar system are all inhabited by robots.
With an atmosphere composed of 96% carbon dioxide, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, suffering from a runaway greenhouse effect. It’s almost- and hear me out- like excess carbon dioxide in your atmosphere can fuck your climate to kingdom come.
Jupiter’s big red spot is shrinking. One day it might disappear. But since it’s approximately the size of Earth, it’ll likely be around until, idk, like Saturday at least.
There’s no natural point at which Earth’s atmosphere ends and a discrete region known as outer space begins. The Karman line, a hundred kilometers above sea level, is recognized as the defining edge of space by most aviation and legal bodies. Which is important for jurisdiction purposes when you’re being gay and doing space crimes.
The Moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth has a few effects, including causing the planet to spin increasingly slower, gradually making the days longer. Before my fellow procrastinators pop the champagne, we only gain about 1/500th of a second per day every century.
Sunsets on Mars are blue, a view currently only being enjoyed by our robot overlords.
A planet approximately forty light years away called 55 Cancri e is suspected to be made largely of diamonds. Its atmosphere contains hydrogen cyanide, it’s typically over 2,500°K during the daytime, and Elon Musk is ordering a crew to return to work there “or else.”
In 5-7 billion years, the sun is going to turn into a red giant and engulf the Earth. Better get started on your Christmas shopping.
In space, even a whole lot of nothing can be interesting. The Boötes Void spans over 300 million light years. In a region where typically over 2,000 galaxies would be found, only sixty have been identified. Possibly the result of many smaller voids coalescing, there’s no good reason why a void of this size can’t happen, and it’s (probably) not a sign of a wormhole through the multiverse. It’s just super fucking weird.
There’s almost definitely life on other planets, but adjust your expectations. Why we can only imagine aliens as rectal probe carrying green bipeds with giant black eyes is beyond me.
Surely, some of them are quadrupeds with rectal probes.
This has been your Moment of Science, guzzling NyQuil and drifting off to the Crab Nebula.
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