Astronomy is one of the most fascinating subjects. The world of planets and stars is certain to leave anyone amused. Although man has been studying astronomy for several years now, there are still a lot of facts about the subject that remain relatively unknown. Let us take a look at some of them.

One of the most surprising facts about astronomy is that you can not see everything around. As per scientists, we can only see 5% of the matter that is around us. The rest of the matter is made up of invisible matter, which is also called dark matter. This is fairly similar to high cholesterol levels. They do exist within the body but cannot be seen until you go for a cholesterol screening test.

We know that Sun is the prime spring of energy of our planet. But, we are completely unaware of the fact that its center generates energy in huge quantities every second which is equal to the energy of billions of nuclear bombs combined.

It is quite expected that the planet Mercury, being the closest to the sun must have rising temperatures. However, quite surprisingly, the temperature of this planet could easily drop down to -280 degrees F. Such a drastic drop in temperature may be attributed to the fact that Mercury lacks atmosphere, which makes it impossible for the planet to trap any heat as coming from the sun. No wonder the face of this planet away from sun is colder.

On the contrary, Venus that is comparatively faraway from the sun is warmer. This is simply because of the fact that the atmosphere of Venus is much thicker, which traps the heat. As a outcome, Venus has a tendency to be warmer.

Whenever we are asked about the inventor of the telescope, we always credit it to Galileo Galilei. But, the fact is that Galileo used the tool to study the stars first. Historians and researchers believe that it was the invention of Johannes Lippershey, a Dutch eyeglass maker. You can also try and use the telescope to observe several heavenly bodies including the moon.

The shooting stars that we see in the sky are nothing but dirt particles. When comets go through the earth’s environment, they leave a trail of dust at the back. When this particle move through the environment, they heat up. This creates streaks of light in the sky which appears as a shooting star.

In case you are taken aback by these facts, you ought to delve further in this science to learn more.

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