Universe
The wondrous expanse above us! A place where stars light up the night, planets, comets, satellites, and maybe even extraterrestrial beings roam. Who knows? The universe remains a realm of endless mysteries. Its vastness is beyond comprehension—so immense that no one truly knows its full size. Not even the most powerful telescope can glimpse its edge!
Scientists estimate the universe to be around 14 billion years old—a venerable, bearded grandfather of sorts. According to prevailing theory, it all began with the monumental event known as the Big Bang.
Boooom! Baaaaang!
What came before it? And why did the Big Bang happen? That remains one of the universe’s greatest mysteries. Scientists believe that all matter was once concentrated in a single, infinitely dense point, and since the Big Bang, it has been expanding ever since.
So, what exactly is matter? Matter is everything around us, composed of tiny particles—like miniature building blocks called atoms. These atoms combine in countless ways to create all the things we see and experience.
On Earth, matter exists in four states: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. While plasma is rare here, it’s the most abundant state of matter in the universe—making up about 99% of all matter out there.
Plasma
Plasma is a unique, superheated gas that glows and moves with energy. In the universe, it manifests as solar wind, within the magnetospheres of planets and comets, in the cores and atmospheres of stars, and in gaseous nebulae. In fact, the Sun and other stars are immense, luminous balls of plasma.
What exactly is cosmic matter?
Cosmic matter can be divided into visible matter and dark matter. Visible matter includes things like stars and planets that we can see in the sky. Dark matter, however, is a bit more mysterious. Imagine a jar full of invisible candies. You know they're there because the jar feels heavy, but you can’t see them! That’s what dark matter is like. Scientists know it exists because it influences the movement of stars and galaxies, but no one has ever seen it. It's as if the universe is filled with invisible jelly!
Stars
Stars may appear as tiny lamps in the night sky, but in reality, they are immense balls of blazing fire, far bigger than our Earth! Even our Sun is a star. Thanks to the Sun, we have warmth and light on our planet.
Stars are born from massive clouds of gas and dust. Imagine a bunch of fluffy cotton balls coming together to form a big sphere. Each star begins as a small spark and gradually grows bigger and brighter. The older a star gets, the more brilliantly it shines!
Stars come in a variety of colors: some are white, others yellow, red, or blue. The hotter the star, the bluer it appears, while cooler stars take on a red hue. Who would have guessed?
You may hear about Red Dwarfs—these are the smallest and oldest, coolest stars. They're like the "grandparents" of the universe. Or you might come across White Dwarfs—these are the "retirees" of the universe that once shone brightly. When such a star exhausts its "stellar energy," it sheds its outer layers, leaving behind only its hot core, which becomes the white dwarf. This remnant is very small and extremely hot, but as it no longer has an energy source, it gradually cools down and eventually fades away.
Stars live, unlike humans, for a remarkably long time! They can shine for millions, even billions, of years. But eventually, even the oldest star grows weary and "dies." However, that doesn’t mean it vanishes. Instead, it transforms—perhaps into a stunning, colorful nebula or an immense, explosive supernova!
So, next time you gaze at the stars in the night sky, remember that each one has its own long, captivating story—just like people.
Galaxies
Galaxies are like vast cities in the universe, home to millions, even billions, of stars. Just as a city has countless people, a galaxy is filled with countless stars. They are always in motion, spinning and swirling, like a giant pinwheel in the sky.
Galaxies come in many shapes. Some are large, round spheres with stars packed at their centers, while others spiral with long, outstretched arms, creating a mesmerizing vortex of stars. Some galaxies have more irregular shapes, much like a snow globe where all the glitter spins around. Stars within galaxies swirl in a similar fashion!
The galaxy we call home is the Milky Way. It’s our own starry city, containing billions of stars, including our Sun. When you look up at the night sky, you might see a cloudy band of stars—that’s the Milky Way! Just as our city has neighboring towns, the Milky Way has neighboring galaxies. The closest one is Andromeda, or M31. It's a large spiral galaxy, much like our own, and lies about 2.5 million light-years away. This means that when we look at Andromeda, we’re seeing it as it looked 2.5 million years ago, since the light from it has taken that long to reach us!
In addition to Andromeda, there are several smaller galaxies nearby, known as dwarf galaxies. The closest ones are the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud, which are just 160,000 to 200,000 light-years away.
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PS: PERHAPS ONE DAY, WE´LL FIND OUR WAY TO THE GALAXY OF FIDELUMENARIA, HOME TO THE MAGICAL CREATURES OF THE LIGHT!
Nebulae
Nebulae are like massive clouds in our cosmic sky, but unlike the clouds we see on Earth, they’re vast clouds of dust and gas that glow in stunning colors. Nebulae form when a big explosion occurs in space, such as when a star explodes. Hot gas and steam scatter into the universe, creating those beautiful, colorful clouds.
They can be green, blue, red, purple, or even pink! The colors depend on the types of gases and dust particles they contain.
Nebulae can be found throughout the universe. Some are close to us, like in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, while others are millions of light-years away, in distant corners of the cosmos.
Inside nebulae, incredible things happen! The dust and gas come together to form new, smaller stars. So, nebulae are like cosmic factories where stars are born! Nebulae are crucial to scientists because they help us understand how stars are born and evolve. Sometimes, scientists even discover entirely new types of stars within them.
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Planets
Planets are large round worlds that orbit around the Sun. Our Earth is a planet, and it has seven "sisters"—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each of them is different and special in its own way!
All the planets orbiting the Sun form the solar system.
However, in the vastness of the universe, there are surely many other planets. We just haven't discovered them yet. Perhaps on some planets, strange creatures we call extraterrestrials live. Would you like to meet one?
Moons
Moons are like loyal companions to planets. Our Earth has one moon, which watches over our dreams every night. However, some planets have many moons—Jupiter has over 60! Imagine so many moons in the sky!
Although our moon appears bright, it doesn’t shine on its own! It only reflects the sunlight. Its surface is gray and rocky.
The moon has a big influence on the tides in Earth's oceans! This influence is caused by the gravitational force the moon exerts on us. The moon pulls on the water on Earth, causing the ocean levels to rise in the areas where the moon is closest. This rise in water is called a "high tide." When there’s a high tide on one side of the Earth (the side facing the moon), the opposite side of the Earth (where the moon is farther away) experiences a low tide.
This cycle repeats approximately every 12 hours and 25 minutes.
Asteroids
Asteroids are space rocks that wander through the universe, like mischievous troublemakers zipping between planets. Some are as large as a house, while others can be as big as a whole city! The majority of asteroids are located in the Asteroid Belt, a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. There are many flying around there, but some also travel through other parts of our solar system.
Asteroids are remnants from the early days when our solar system was forming. They aren’t new objects; they’re leftovers from the time when the planets and the Sun were still coming together. Occasionally, a larger asteroid might come close to Earth, but don’t worry—most of the time, it passes by far away, and nothing happens.
Meteors
When an asteroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it heats up quickly due to friction with the air and may even start to glow. The shimmering glowing object that we see in the sky is called a meteor.
Most meteors burn up completely before they reach the Earth's surface. However, sometimes a larger piece survives and lands on the Earth. This is called a meteorite. If you ever spot one, you can make a wish!
Comets
Comets are like cosmic travelers with long glowing tails. They look like flying snowmen with scarves trailing behind them. Their tails are made of ice and dust. When a comet gets close to the Sun, the ice starts to melt, creating a big bright halo around it and a long fluttering tail. This tail stretches behind the comet and can even be longer than Earth!
Comets travel on very long and stretched-out orbits around the Sun. Every so often, they come close to Earth, and we can see them in the night sky. Sometimes, comets are so bright that we can see them even during the day!
In the past, people thought comets were bad or dangerous. But today, we know they’re just chunks of ice and rock floating through space. In fact, when a comet flies close to Earth, it can be a beautiful sight!
Black Holes
A black hole is like a giant cosmic vacuum cleaner. It's so strong that it pulls in everything nearby—even light! Black holes are created when massive stars collapse into a tiny, incredibly dense point. But don’t worry, there are no black holes close to Earth.