Varying Heights

Astronauts become 1-2 inches taller while they are in space. Without Earth’s gravity tugging on their bodies, the vertebrae in their spines stretch out. The extra height is only temporary, though. Astronauts shrink back to their normal size after returning to Earth.

Life in the slow lane

Time slows down when traveling at great speed in space, so space travelers age more slowly than they do on Earth. Albert Einstein figured this out
In 1905, long before we started flying in space. Einstein knew the speed of light never changes as it is constant. Time however, is relative said Einstein. It can change. It changes according to the speed of what is measuring it. The faster the speed, the slower time passes. In fact, a very accurate clock aboard a space shuttle was measured after its return to Earth it lost 2.95 x 10^-10 seconds for each second of the trip. If the shuttle had been traveling near the speed of light and had been gone for several years, the time loss would have been bigger. So if you went on a very long space trip and our space craft could travel close to speed of light we would be younger than our current same-age friends when we returned to Earth.

Relative theory of Einstein

Einstein made other predictions in his General Theory of Relativity. He said that in super strong gravitational fields, time passes more slowly than it does outside the field. And as gravity becomes infinitely strong, time actually slows to a stop. He also said that all laws of geometry would no longer be true because three-dimensional space would be changed and distorted. For example, the geometry rule that the area of a square is equal to its length multiplied by its width would not be true in super strong gravity.
Einstein’s other great theory, the special Theory of relativity, predicted that the passing of time and the measurement of distance change as movement becomes faster and faster. The effects of this become noticeable only as the speed of light is approached. This would have the consequences for black holes, since objects that fall into black holes would begin to go as fast as the speed of light.

Halley

Halley’s Comet zooms by Earth regularly, and so it has a chance a tiny one of colliding with our planet. During a flyby, the famous chunk of ice is easy to spot, even without a telescope. For example, there are reports from 240 B.C., when ancient Chinese stargazers saw it without any problem.
Here’s a timeline that shows some of the world changing events that happened between Halley’s visits. As you will see, Halley doesn’t appear at exactly even intervals. By computing the averages time between visits what year would you except the comet to turn up next?
1338- Hundred Years war starts between England and France on 1301 Visit.
1405- Chinese Sailors explore the Indian Ocean on 1378 Visit.
1492- Columbus sets sail to find a route to Asia through the Pacific.
on 1456 visit.
1910- World War I begins on 1910 visit.
1986- First Official U.S. observation of Martin Luther king Jr. Day, in honor of slain civil rights leader, space shuttle Challenger explodes

Stick Man

It’s a map of galaxies! In 1986, astronomer Margaret Geller led a team of researchers to pinpoint the location of more than 1,000 nearby galaxies. The map shows that galaxies are not evenly spaced in the universe, but grouped together in narrow bands with large spaces or voids between them. Geller nicknamed the image the “Stick Man” because it resembled a stick figure with arms outstretched.

Andromeda

The closest major galaxy to Earth, the spiral-shaped AndromedaGalaxy is the most distant object visible to the naked eye. It lies about 2.5 million light-years from Earth and contains over 200 billion stars.

Orion

Orion is one of the most easily recognized constellations with its distinctive “belt” of three bright stars. The Greeks saw the star as a hunter, but Native Americans saw a group of running deer. Syrian astronomers believed the stars formed a giant called AI Jabbar. In the northern hemisphere, you cannot see Orion in June. However, you can see it in Chile in June.

Astrology

All of the planets in our solar system orbit the sun in a band of the sky known as the Ecliptic. Ancient astronomers divided the stars in the ecliptic in to 12 constellations. Most of these constellations are named for animals or mythological creatures, so Greeks gave this band of stars the name Zodiac, meaning “Circle of animals.” The zodiac is used in astrology, the belief that the planets’ positions can influence the future. Astrology is not the same thing as astronomy, the scientific study of the universe. Astrology has no scientific basis at all.

Nebula

A nebula is an enormous cloud of gas atoms and tiny particles. Nebulae are the birth place of new stars and some dying stars leave nebula as wreckage. The smallest nebula is much larger than the solar system and the largest are hundreds of light years across. Some nebula is bright while others are dark. The brightness could be due to their atoms getting affected by the energy given out by neighboring stars. Dark nebulae appear as black starless areas, since they are absorbing light from stars beyond

Polaris

Also called the Pole Star and the North star, Polaris sits almost exactly over the North Pole. Polaris has long been important to navigators because of its position. It is located at the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper (Part of Ursa Minor)

Images of Binary star

BInary Star

A Binary star or a double star is a pair of stars that revolve around each other and are held together by gravity. The closer a pair of stars are, the faster they revolve. Some Binary stars are almost touching and go around each other in a few hours, while others, which are separated by hundreds of times the diameter of the solar system, may take a million years to orbit each other. About a quarter of all known stars belong to binary systems. Most of these, particularly the close pairs, must have been born together. In most cases, one star is large, cool and reddish while the other star is small and white hot.

Images of Neutron Star

Neutron Star

A neutron star is the smallest and densest kind of star. An atom has electrons in its orbits and solid protons and neutrons form the centre or nucleus, which takes a small portion of the atom. As long as a star shines, the power of its radiation holds all the parts of atoms apart. But when the star begins to die, the gravity in the star makes the outer layer collapse inwards with such force that the centre is crushed to solid neutrons because the electrons and protons are forced together to make neutrons. A neutron star is one of the strangest objects in the universe. It becomes a million times heavier than lead. A pinhead size of a neutron star would weigh as much as a multi stored building.

Sirius

Sirius is the brightest star in the sky. It is at a distance of 9.5 light years from the Earth. It is also known as the Dog Star because it lies in the constellation of Canis Major, the Greater Dog. Sirius is actually a binary star and it is made of two stars that orbit around each other. Only the brighter of the two can be seen with the naked eye. Sirius was important in ancient Egypt before the calendars were developed. The appearance of Sirius coincided with the annual flooding of river Nile.

Images of Proxima Centauri

Images of Supernova Remnant

Images of Sombrero Galaxy

Sombrero Galaxy

When viewed from the side, this spiral galaxy bulges in the middle like a sombrero, or Mexican Hat. Scientists suspect that a Black hole as massive as 1 billion Suns may lie at the galaxy’s center. Around its center lie billions of old, faint stars that form the enormous bulge of light.

Images of Eta Carinae