Things that Blow Your Mind

[Jolly Blue Giant]

To get a perspective on the size of Earth compared to our neighbors, this picture shows planets as fruit



Jupiter is so large that it's gravitational pull effects Earth's orbit around the sun. Unlike Earth that takes one year to orbit the Sun, Jupiter takes 12 years. Earth is not always directly between the Sun and Jupiter



But on August 20 of this year, it will be...for the first time in hundreds of years



Compared to planet Earth, the Sun is enormous. In fact, we could put 1.3 million Earths inside of the Sun. We could put 1,300 Earths inside of Jupiter.





The Sun is an amazing star, but it's "moody" like my ex. The mood can change from day to day...from moment to moment for that case 



While trying to get a grip on just our solar system and Sun, keep in mind that everything in the Universe is moving and we are adrift caused by forces for which we have no control



Just as we kind of get a grip on the sheer size of our Sun, keep in mind that it is not even close to being "large" in astronomical terms. A sister star called Antares (also known as Alpha Scorpii) in our Milky Way can be seen in the constellation "Scorpion"



Putting things in perspective:



In its journey around the galaxy, our Sun moves toward the star Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp. It will eventually crash into Vega...but not to worry, we won't be around



The point toward which we move is called the

[Sem]

Another fun fact. A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
It takes Venus longer to rotate once on its axis than to complete one orbit of the Sun. That's 243 Earth days to rotate once - the longest rotation of any planet in the Solar System - and only 224.7 Earth days to complete one orbit of the Sun.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Another fun fact. A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
It takes Venus longer to rotate once on its axis than to complete one orbit of the Sun. That's 243 Earth days to rotate once - the longest rotation of any planet in the Solar System - and only 224.7 Earth days to complete one orbit of the Sun.

That's interesting - never knew that. I see Venus in the sky all the time. A few years ago, Venus and Mars could be seen with the naked eye as they were so close together. Venus is really easy to point out because it is so bright. Mars was not as bright, but you could see a slight pink to it. I pointed it out to a group of friends who didn't seem overly impressed by it.

I know that Venus spins clockwise compared to all the other planets and that it's atmospheric pressure is so great that we would implode upon standing on the surface not to mention, burst into flames before being squashed like a grape under the heel of a boot. Maybe that's why they say "Girls are from Venus and men from Mars" they can squash your heart like a bug. Kinda reminds me of my past relationships which tended to be of the "Forrest and Jenny Type"...I became retarded and she turned out to be a slut

[LennG]

Since we are now talking space et al, my son sent me this link several years ago. Some facts are interesting, at least to me, while others "eh" (as Larry David would say)

https://www.space.com/35695-weirdest-solar-system-facts.html#:~:text=25%20Weirdest%20Facts%20About%20the%20Solar%20System.%201,5%205.%20Venus%20has%20super-powerful%20winds.%20More%20items

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Since we are now talking space et al, my son sent me this link several years ago. Some facts are interesting, at least to me, while others "eh" (as Larry David would say)

https://www.space.com/35695-weirdest-solar-system-facts.html#:~:text=25%20Weirdest%20Facts%20About%20the%20Solar%20System.%201,5%205.%20Venus%20has%20super-powerful%20winds.%20More%20items

That's interesting. I know a lot of people who didn't like the fact that Pluto was no longer considered a planet by astronomer scientist. According to them, Pluto

[Ed Vette]

Jupiter is the Earth

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Jupiter is the Earth

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Sticking with astronomy.

Some question whether we ever really put man on the moon and that it was nothing more than a hoax. I still love the videos of Buzz Aldrin slugging a conspiracy theorist when he was confronted by Bart Sibrel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQKVdVqFZv0

Regardless, some question why no one has ever seen the Apollo missions leftovers on the moon with a telescope. Simple answer is, the is no telescope big enough to see it. However, subsequent unmanned missions have photographed the debris left behind.

[spiderblue43]

Wait a minute ...didn't Khan get the Genesis Device? He could have made Khan World to rival Disney.

[LennG]

Can't say this blows my mind buy I found it extremely interesting.

Seems as if a lot of previously dormant volcanos have been erupting fairly regularly recently.

Mount Etna roars again, sends up towering volcanic ash cloud

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mount-etna-roars-again-sends-up-towering-volcanic-ash-cloud/ar-AAU8b4H?ocid=msedgntp

and check this out

https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/erupting_volcanoes.html

If you remember, there was quite an eruption of a volcano on La Palma in the Canary Islands.
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/la-palma.html

Funny, we had the pleasure of visiting this volcano while on a cruise to the Canary Islands. We werwe able to go to the area where the ehat radiates from the volcano and they have a restaurant there where they roast chicken on a huge rack over the open area of the volcano.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Cooking chicken over a live volcano..that's incredible Lenn. What an experience

Many years ago I read an article from a geologist that changed the way I see things. He said, "a very common expression is 'it's as safe as the ground we walk on'". He then proceeded to explain the many things that go on under of feet that we are unaware of. It was so enlightening that I forever will see the ground we walk on as (in the words of the robot to Will Robinson) "DANGER, DANGER". Between volcanoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, sink holes, etc., we are never truly "safe"...LOL

Consider: https://mashable.com/feature/eruption-of-paricutin

[LennG]

Cooking chicken over a live volcano..that's incredible Lenn. What an experience

Many years ago I read an article from a geologist that changed the way I see things. He said, "a very common expression is 'it's as safe as the ground we walk on'". He then proceeded to explain the many things that go on under of feet that we are unaware of. It was so enlightening that I forever will see the ground we walk on as (in the words of the robot to Will Robinson) "DANGER, DANGER". Between volcanoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, sink holes, etc., we are never truly "safe"...LOL

Consider: https://mashable.com/feature/eruption-of-paricutin

Incredible pix