A Whole Lot of Space
There is a whole lot of space above us, here we will take a brief look into somethings about it.
One of the main questions people tend to always ask about space is “Is there any life out there?” and although the answer to that may prove to be unanswerable either way at the moment because no other life of any sort has been found (or at least confirmed), scientists have admitted that they are of a believe that life has existed at some stage, somewhere, apart from Earth.
Where is the most likely site of life beyond Earth?
Mars is one planet where most people think that life may be found, although it is probably going to be some sort of plant life rather than an advanced species like humans. However, many scientist are of an opinion that although Mars may once have sustained life, they do not expect anything much to grow there now.
So where else to look for life beyond Earth if it is not going to be Mars? One of the best bets, according to scientist, is Europa; one of the moons circling Jupiter. On the face of it this satellite seems quite an unlikely place for life as the 2,000 mile wide moon orbits 490 million miles from the sun and as such rarely gets temperatures of above -100 degrees Celsius.
“Europa: one of the moons of Jupiter” (Image Source)
However, more than a decade ago, NASA sent the Galileo probe up to Europa and the information data sent back showed that there may have been a vast ocean lurking beneath its ice-laden crust. Basically, as an explanation, the water is kept above freezing temperatures by the constant moving and friction caused by Jupiter’s huge gravitational field. These so-called tidal forces are thought to be so strong that they keep the temperature under the ice-crust comparatively warm compared to that above the ice.
More importantly, these forces may also trigger volcanic activity, similar to that already witnessed on Io (another one of Jupiter’s many moons). Such activity like this raises the possibility of some sort of primitive life existing near hydrothermal vents similar to those within the Earth’s oceans, where undersea nutrients and warmth are supplied in lieu of sunlight. NASA already has plans to follow up the Galileo mission with a variety of probes, which include the Europa ice clipper, which could return ice sample to Earth by the end of this decade.
Mysteries of space.
Space has always been something of a mystery, but back in the 1960’s, America managed to put astronauts on the moon. It was a move that cost billions and has gone a long way to starting and helping the knowledge of space to be as advanced as it is nowadays.
Some people of course will argue that the moon landing was faked in a bid to make America look to be further ahead of the Russians in the race for space exploration. One of the most telling bits of evidence that the moon landings were not faked in a Los Angeles back-lot or a Hollywood studio is the distinctly black sky we see above the images of Buzz Aldrin taken from the moons surface. What Hollywood movie producer or director could have resisted the temptation of adding a backdrop of many brilliant stars in contrast to a black moon set? Incidentally, all but four of the surface photos taken from the Apollo 11 mission are of Buzz Aldrin – even the most famous one of all, the one showing the reflection of the photographer in the astronaut’s gold visor.
“Buzz Aldrin” (Image Source)
So what is the reason for the lack of stars in the picture then?
Well, the moon has no atmosphere to limit the amount of light coming down to its surface, so in theory there should be absolutely brilliant views of even the furthest away stars. The problem was the moonwalks all occurred during the lunar day. The glare of the unfiltered sun is considerable (the reason that all of the astronauts moonsuits were fitted with one way visors) and the glare tended to mask the stars and this ‘washout’ effect was made worse by reflected light from all the dust that covers the lunar surface.
Also, there is the fact that the lunar modules descent engines swept away most of the fine dust on the surface, leaving larger, more jagged particles that were so much better at reflecting light. As a result of this, from orbit, the lunar landing sites would appear distinctively brighter than the areas surrounding it. So if an astronaut looked away from the sun towards the darkest part of the sky, then they could make out the stars – but capturing the images of stars requires long camera exposure times and the lunar photos were taken with exposure times far too short to register the stars.
There are plans in place to, within this century, set up a large observatory on the dark side of the moon. Whether that happens or not we will just have to wait and see.
So what else has space travel taught us?
Well the answer to an age-old question. The question of what man-made objects can be seen from space. The edge of space begins at a height of 100km from the Earth’s surface and objects as small as 30 metres across can be seen by the unaided human eye so there are many man-made objects that can clearly be seen from space.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not possible to see the Great Wall of China from space, let alone from the moon, using only the naked eye because it is just not wide enough. Using the 30 metre wide range of objects, there are many that can be seen from space. These include the Pentagon and Britain’s own Millennium Dome.
“Great Wall of China: Not visible from space” (Image Source)
What about things that are visible with artificial aids?
Well, even with artificial aids there are still limits on what you can see from space as the ultimate limit of sight is set by the properties of light itself. The implication of this, in theory at least, a 1 metre wide telescope could make out objects as small as only 6cm across from a height of 100km. Some US spy satellites, such as the Keyhole series, are said to be capable of this performance already. So you had better beware because you will truly never know who is actually watching you.
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38 Responses to “A Whole Lot of Space”
On April 30, 2009 at 7:53 am
Very interesting article. I remember my Grandpa always saying that the astronauts going to the moon was fake.
On April 30, 2009 at 7:53 am
Anything to do with space/astronomy as a whole is right up my street, enjoyable article.
On April 30, 2009 at 7:54 am
I myself am quite excited by the possibilities of life on Europa. If there was, then it could be quite diverse and perhaps even reasonably evolved.
On April 30, 2009 at 7:57 am
Good job, i think there must be some form of life out there, even if it’s just microbes or single celled organisms and it would prove the possiblity of other intelligent life out in the vast universe. Great work!
On April 30, 2009 at 8:10 am
Cool article. I love reading different views on space. Nice job.
On April 30, 2009 at 8:30 am
Great work Briggs very well written and great information on the subject….
On April 30, 2009 at 9:03 am
That photo is really a joke (Aldrin)
Yes, there is a life at out space, the creature’s name is Daabah (in Al Qur’an), including animal.
On April 30, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Good job,well written article.
On April 30, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Great article – very informative.
On April 30, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I know lot’s of people who are from another planet! lol.
Great article, Ali.
On April 30, 2009 at 2:46 pm
So here we can only theorize about the mysteries of space.
On April 30, 2009 at 3:39 pm
The giant Spaghetti monster lives in outer space Nostradamas told me about it in a dream.
On April 30, 2009 at 7:23 pm
A very nicely written article. I’ve been reading mainly poetry so this was a pleasant experience. Science, especially space, is very interesting and creates unlimited possibilities of life and even Bo-onsters. A science article is always full of facts and figures so I can appreciate the time and effort dealing with the research necessary to write this piece. Good job.
On April 30, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Excellent writing, informative and interesting!
On April 30, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Enjoyed reading this informative and interesting article.
On April 30, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Very good article. Very interesting read.
On April 30, 2009 at 10:24 pm
very interesting read. learned something new today.
On April 30, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I’ve always wondered why God made the universe so big if He was only planning to populate one planet.
On May 1, 2009 at 12:04 am
Very interesting and well written article. Even though I may wonder about what is up there, I don’t think I want to go there to find out. I would rather read about it. I’m scared of not coming back.
On May 1, 2009 at 12:52 am
This is such an interesting piece and I really enjoyed reading it.
On May 1, 2009 at 2:45 am
A very interesting presentation. It was a good write.
On May 1, 2009 at 6:54 am
Great article Alistair , very informative and well written .
On May 1, 2009 at 9:53 am
that’s weird, because we are always told you can see the Great Wall from space.
On May 1, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Interesting piece.
To answer the first question, I believe there is life out there, it is silly for us to think we are all alone. Now that life may be a single cell organism, or non-carbon based, but given the vast expanse of the heavens, it is unlikely we are alone. Stephen Hawking has a couple of great books out, though you may need to read the page more than once!
Thanks,
Clay
On May 1, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Loved this article. I always think about life after life and life on other planets. I hope some of these unanswered questions get answered while I am still on this earth
On May 1, 2009 at 11:23 pm
good article explanation
On May 2, 2009 at 9:08 am
An interesting read my friend. Thanks for sharing.
On May 7, 2009 at 2:38 am
Why haven’t I read this before today!?! I love this stuff. A great topic that is very well written. Good stuff, Alistair.
On May 7, 2009 at 4:41 am
heyy luv this website its sooo intresting….i honestly want to go to space sumdayy!!
:D:D
xxxxx
On May 7, 2009 at 4:44 am
heyyy
dis website is too cool 4 ice cube school
im sooo becoming 1 of thoose space people freaks
…tehe..
and the moon >> luv it
i mean solar elcispes wow!
so radical
x0x
On May 18, 2009 at 11:23 am
this is very interesting topic… like it so much!
On July 16, 2009 at 11:23 pm
That is very interesting.
On July 17, 2009 at 1:41 am
Good job — gla dyou busted the old myth about the Great Wall being seen from space!
On July 17, 2009 at 7:45 pm
The vast voids of space, so unpredictable, so many things we still do not know about it.
On July 17, 2009 at 7:47 pm
The vast voids of space, so unpredictable and so much we do not yet know about it.
On July 18, 2009 at 1:14 am
Amazing facts about outerspace.
On July 19, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Cool!!!
On July 23, 2009 at 12:55 pm
great insights Alistair
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