Aloha Friday Motivation | Pondering the Universe Edition | #26
Happy Aloha Friday!
My son and I started exploring the universe. Needless to say, it was a black hole.
It all started in the Lowe’s parking lot. Walking past one of those new mustang SUVs in burnt orange (or puce), I noticed a bumper sticker that read, “The next solar eclipse: 4/8/2024!” I turned to my 3 year old and said, “Arlo, did you know that the next solar eclipse is on your birthday?” The construction vehicle, car and truck loving 3 year old (who is still obsessed with cars and trucks and construction vehicles) now has a new obsession with space and the planets and eclipses. He’s even memorized all nine planets (yes, Pluto will always be a planet in my household). He runs around the house exclaiming that “Satur” (he has trouble turning the corner of the “turn”) is his favorite followed by Uranus. He has even asked Santa to bring him Saturn next year.
His sparked interest has ignited mine as well: a sort of chain reaction that has me fascinated with how the universe came into existence, what existed before the universe, and everything in between. While I won’t bore you with the specifics (at least not today), I will guide you to these amazing Universe Facts (I picked out a few choice ones and listed them below) and this amazing site! Also, I would implore you to revisit the Stephen Hawking quote below from time to time. I am reminded, daily, by my kids, that this childlike sense of abandon and wonder is what keeps us interested and, by proxy, makes us interesting. A wise friend said to me recently, “I spend my time thinking about a lot of stuff. I'd say it helps me be good at my job....but it isn't always related to my job.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Some of my favorite Universe Facts:
- It snows metal and rains acid on Venus. Venus is congested in sulfuric acid, which causes the planet’s metals to become gas, liquid, and solid, in the atmosphere before raining down. (like, WHAT!?)
- Sunset is blue on Mars. Mars has less than 1% of the Earth’s atmosphere. The sunset on Mars looks blue because the atmosphere mostly captures blue light from the sun.
- If two pieces of the same type of metal touch in space, they will bond permanently. Unlike on Earth, the process called cold welding will cause two pieces of the same metal to merge due to the absence of water and air molecules in space.
- Uranus rotates on its side. Uranus is the only planet in the solar system that spins sideways on its axis. Scientists theorize that a collision realigned its orientation.
- There’s a planet made of diamonds 2 times the size of Earth. 55 Cancri e is a so-called “super-Earth” made of diamonds discovered in 2004 around a nearby star in the Milky Way.
Comments
Post a Comment