I often find myself out in the backyard staring at the night sky with my kids, they find the whole subject fascinating, as do i.
However i'm no expert, therefore i pass on a few bits of info here and there from what i've read here and in books.
I'm after either basic facts, or amazing ones that can captivate them and their imaginations. Even things like the light you see from the stars
actually being many years old, is fascinating and unheard of to many people.
I like the thought that one day my kids can be sat around a camp fire with thier mates, or thier own kids and say, "Hey, look up there....did you
know that......*insert your fact here*.
Like i say, i'm a total amateur so anything will be a help. I will of course being Googling info too, but i like the way the members here think, so i
thought i'd pick your brains.
:" Ever heard of a process called cold welding? It’s a process when two metals are stuck together in space. Two pieces of metal without coating on
them will then begin to form as one. It’s not a big problem to space stations because their already coated with material from Earth.
Did you know the sound of the sunspots can sing? Scientists believe that sunspot activity might be the reason for the beautiful sound of stringed
violins. Antonio Stradivari, a famous violin maker, made the most special voilin ever in his life and it was the most beautiful sound that everyone
ever heard. And the sunspots—they sound 3 times better"
I sometimes share details about how far away certain objects are, telling them how long it would take to get there at the speed of light.
I tell my kids we are looking out into the past, because in many cases the light that is reaching us is very, very old; it took a looooong time to get
here.
I explain the reason why stars scintillate. I always point out Sirius because it scintillates so brightly.
I tell them details about certain objects in the sky, for example, I might tell them the size of Betelgeuse compared to our own sun, or the fact that
it is expected to go nova any time now, possibly in their lifetimes.
I point out the planets and I tell them about the probes and/or rovers we have sent there and what they found.
Not too long ago I had my kids look through binoculars at Jupiter; we could see three of its moons!
Sometimes I explain alternate theories to my kids, such as the sun being electric, time behaving differently than we think, or modern ideas of
redshift being incorrect.
I started doing this at a very young age, before they could comprehend it. Now they are 13 and 11, and they "get" it more these days.
I would suggest investing in a telescope. You can get a nice one for pretty cheap. I have a 99$ Celestron Powerseeker 114AZ. You can easily observe
Saturn and her rings and Jupiter's bands and many moons. As well as several other awesome objects in the sky.
1-Space Is not absolute vacuum.
2-Our Sun is a medium-sized star.
3-On January 19, 2011 there were 1183 potentially hazardous asteroids(source: Spaceweather)
4-Jupiter Has 63 Moons(that have been discovered to this date)
5-The Oldest star on our galaxy is aprox. 13.2 billion years old.
ill post more on the future
edit on 19/1/2011 by jpsdasnake because: fixed format
One of my most favorite facts has to do with the pleaides, I tend to throw it out when people start talking about the "pleadians" and ancient alien
star systems. The star system is very young (around 100 million years) and is unable to sustain life. Its believed the system will disapate/disappear
in around 250 million years from now.
I find it funny some people would rather beleive in jelly moulds and forged/hoaxed photos about alien vistors from this system than the actual
facts.
Originally posted by beezzer
Seven of those "satellites" you see moving are actually SR-71's that went too high.
Sorry, "geek-conspiracy-military-secret" moment.
A sr-71 on LEO? wow,thats one hell of an engine(two,actually)
Nasa spent a few million dollars developing a pen that can write in space.. The Soviets used a pencil.
Recently we discovered that our Solar system was not origionally part of the Milkyway Galaxy. We were a member of a much smaller galaxy that was and
still is being absorbed into the Milkyway.
The origional V mini movies (80's) was adapted from a novel written in the 30s that put forth the scenario of the US becoming a fascist state. The
movie people turned it down, so it was rewritten as a Sci Fi movie. In that movie, the V's are reptilian from the Sirus star system, which
intrestingly enough mirrors current thoeries put forward about our History.
During the cold war the Soviets actually got the blueprints for our Space shuttle and made their own. It only flew once.
Voyager 1, if sent to the closest Star system to ours, would take over 73k years to get there. If it could travel at the speed of light, it would take
a little more than 4 years to get there.
Patience is a virtue.... Taco is a noun.
Size matters
Venus is the only plane in our Solar System whose rotation is clockwise.
The moon is actually moving away from Earth at a rate of 1.5 inches per year - In about 50k years the moon will be able to break away from the
gravitational pull of the Earth.
Jupiter's moon Ganymede, is larger than the planet Mercury