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Last Update: 11-15-2006
Note 12-29-2007: Even though
Pluto has been recategorized to not be the ninth planet, it is still included
here, as many astronomers still believe it should not be demoted. It still
plays a very important part in our study of the solar system.
This web page provides commonly held
facts and figures about the Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy and our Solar System.
There is very little that is "precise" regarding astronomical
distances and sizes of objects due to the vast distances. Many books you
will read may have data that does not match each other due to various approaches
to reporting distances and sizes. This information is subject to change as
scientists make new discoveries and are able to more specifically evaluate facts
about our cosmos. But, this information provides a good overview and basic
understanding of the cosmos in which we live.
If you know of additional useful
facts that would be a good addition to this page or know of corrections, please
email them to ccas@ccastronomy.org.
Your contributions are welcome.
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UNIVERSE,
MILKY WAY GALAXY and GENERAL INFO |
 The
Universe is approximately 13 to 14 billion years old, starting
from the "Big Bang".
Milky
Way Galaxy is approximately 100,000 light-years across and 7,000
light-years thick.
Our
Milky Way Galaxy contains between 100 and 400 billion stars.
How
does our Milky Way Galaxy fit in the Universe:
> The Milky Way is one of a group
of 30 galaxies called the "Local Group".
> The Local Group is one of
dozens of small clusters centered on a large collection of more
than 2,500 galaxies called the Virgo Cluster.
> These galaxies and other galaxy
groups form a "Supercluster".
> The Universe contains millions
of such Superclusters.
Closest
major spiral galaxy to our Milky Way is the Andromeda Galaxy.
Closest
star to our Solar System is Proxima Centauri, about 4.3 light-years
away.
Closest
star-forming region in our Milky Way is the Orion Nebula, 1,500
light-years away.
Speed
of light is 186,000 miles per second (like circling the Earth 7 times a
second).
Light
-Year = 5.87 trillion miles (the distance that light travels in
one year).
Astronomical
distances are measured at Parsecs. 1 Parsec = 3.26 light-years.
Light
from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach the Earth.
Earth's
period of rotation is 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds.
An
"Astronomical Unit" is the distance between the Sun &
Earth = 93 million miles. |
Source: Zoom
Astronomy
.
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SUN
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Period
of Rotation on its axis: sections of the Sun rotate separately
> Equatorial region (the
middle) - 25.6 Earth days
> 60 degrees latitude - 30.9
Earth days
> Polar regions - 36 Earth
days
Diameter:
864,938 miles 109 times larger than the Earth
Temperature:
> Core: 10 million to 22.5
million ° F
> Surface: 9,900 ° F
> Sun Spots: the center can
reach a low of 7,300 ° F
Composition:
All gas, 75% hydrogen and 25% helium
Number
of Moons: none
Spacecraft
Visits: Ulysses
Miscellaneous:
> Our Sun formed about
4.5 to 5 billion years ago from a cloud of gas and dust
> Our Sun will burn out
(Planetary Nebula) in about 5 billion years
> Our Sun is a
"Star", similar to all of the other stars seen in the
night sky
> As far as stars go, our
Sun is an average star
> Betelgeuse, another star,
is about 700 times larger than our Sun
> Betelgeuse is about 14,000
brighter than our Sun
> "Prominence" - a
gas eruption, can reach hundreds of thousands of miles out
> "Solar Wind" -
continuous stream of energy emitted from the Sun
> "Sun Spot" - a
cool, dark patch, much larger than the Earth, lasting up to 2 wks
Also see Useful
Links: Solar System: Sun
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JUPITER
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Position
order from the Sun: 5th planet
Distance
from the Sun (on average): 480,000,000 miles
Period
of Revolution around the Sun (1 planetary year): 11.9
Earth years
Period
of Rotation on its axis (1 planetary day): 9.8 Earth
hours
Diameter:
88,700 miles the largest planet
Temperature:
- 244 ° F
Atmosphere:
Very thick gaseous, 90% hydrogen and 10% helium
Number
of Moons: 63
Planetary
Society - Moons of the Solar System
Spacecraft
Visits: Pioneer 10 & 11, Voyager 1 & 2, Ulysses,
Galileo
Miscellaneous:
> Largest planet in the
solar systems, 11 times larger than the Earth
> All of the other planets
could fit inside of it
> It is the 3rd brightest
object in the sky (after the Moon and Venus)
> One Great Red Spot which
is a huge hurricane type storm (17,000 miles wide)
> Jupiter has faint, dark,
narrow rings made of tiny rock fragments and dust
> Jupiter’s set of rings
are about 29,000 miles wide and 12,400 miles thick
> Jupiter has a number of
different direction & width wind bands around it
Also see Useful
Links: Solar System: Jupiter /
Planetary Society - Jupiter |
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