How many facts are there to be known or learned about all the objects and phenomenon in our entire universe? Just think: there are about 1 x 10 ^22 stars in the universe, that’s 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars; then there are many of those stars that have planets in orbit around them. Then consider the moons that orbit those planets and the comets and asteroids, the galaxies these stars form, the nebulae and black holes and everything else that’s out there. The amount of information and data is really quite mind-boggling. This article definitely will not contain every fact about astronomy, but they are very interesting facts nevertheless.
Let’s take a look at a small subset of astronomy: “the brightest stars as seen from Earth”. That’s discounting the Sun which is about 250,000 times closer than the next nearest star. It’s so bright that when the sky is viewed from the Earth, it washes out all the other stars in the sky during a phenomenon called daylight.
Remember that according to the scale for the magnitudes given, lower numbers are brighter. Our Sun would be about -26.73, while the full moon is -12.6. So, with that in mind, here are the top 5:
#5 is Vega, which means “falling eagle” in Arabic is in Lyra. It’s roughly 25 light years away and has a magnitude of 0.04.
When you are thinking about these astronomical facts, please bear in mind that the ‘brightest from the Earth’ doesn’t mean ‘largest’ or ‘brightest’. The Sun is not the largest or brightest star in the universe or even the galaxy, yet it seems so bright to us because it is near compared to the other stars.
#4 Rigel Kentaurus is a very bright, bluish-white supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. It is a binary star, with an average apparent magnitude of 0.12. It’s scientific name is Beta Orionis. ‘Rigel Kentaurus’ is Arabic for the ‘foot of the centaur’. It’s about four light years from Earth.
#3 is Arcturus. The name means ‘guardian of the bear’ in Latin/Greek. This star is about 37 light years from us. It is to be found in the constellation of Bootes near the Great Bear. It has a magnitude of 0.00
#2 Canopus. Of the top five, Canopus, the Greek name for the pilot of the ship Argo in the stories about Jason and the Argonauts, is the brightest, but because it is 313 light years from Earth, it’s only second on this list of the five brightest stars seen from Earth. It has a magnitude of -.62.
#1 is Sirius, meaning ’scorching’ in Greek. It’s also called the ‘Dog Star’ because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (’The Big Dog’). 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.
This information doesn’t even scratch the surface on the subject of astronomy facts but it’s something to consider next time you look into the night sky.
Are you fascinated by Astronomy for Beginners? If you are then, please visait our website at http://astronomy.the-real-way.com
categories: astronomy,photography,NASA,space,technology,hobbies,science,scientists,recreation,education,environment,self help,outdoor,other
Tags: astronomy, education, environment, hobbies, NASA, other, outdoor, photography, recreation, science, scientists, self help, space, technology, Uncategorized