The mysterious ways of the universe unravel themselves constantly. But here are a few fascinating facts that are quite contrary to what we know!
The Oldest Cloud
Back in 2011, astronomers discovered a huge vapor cloud on Mars. This cloud is 1.6 billion years old, making it the oldest source of water ever. Also, it holds 140 trillion times of water that is in the oceans of the earth, making it the largest source of water known to us.
Volcanic Snow
What if we told you, that volcanoes don’t always spew hot lava, but rather the opposite? In space, volcanoes spew methane, ammonia, and even water. Due to the conditions, the so-called lava freeze as soon as they erupt, which turns them into what is known as ‘volcanic snow.’ This phenomenon is called ‘cryovolcanoes’ and is common on Saturn’s moons Titan, Pluto, and Jupiter’s moons Io and Europa.
Valley of Dreams
Mars has the largest valley that has ever been found. Known as the Valles Marineris, it comprises a system of canyons that are 4,000 km long (10 times longer than the Grand Canyon!).
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
The only reason stars seem to twinkle is due to the Earth’s atmosphere. The light from a star is refracted when it hits our atmosphere, which is a tiny pinpoint of light, to begin with.
Cold Welding
When we want to fuse metals, we melt them to do so. But again, things are done differently in space. When two metals slide over one another in space their protective oxide layers disappear and the electrons flow from one metal to the other, automatically fusing them. This is known as ‘cold welding.’