Today’s technology – NASA reveals 5 strange things that happen in...

It doesn’t take an astronomer to know that space is a strange place. But it is how strange it is that may surprise us and make us feel so much. Space is dominated by invisible electromagnetic forces that we do not usually feel. It is also filled with strange types of matter that we have never seen on Earth and NASA has published on its website a list of five things that happen almost exclusively in outer space.

1. Plasma

On Earth, matter is usually in the form of one of the following three states: solid, liquid, or gaseous, but in space, 99.9% of matter is in a completely different form, which is plasma. This substance consists of free ions and electrons, and is in a supercharged state that exceeds the gas Most stars in the night sky, including the Sun, are made of plasma. They even sometimes appear on Earth as bolts of lightning and the plasma can act collectively, like a team. It conducts electricity and is affected by electromagnetic fields. These fields can control the motions of charged particles in the plasma and create waves that accelerate the particles to enormous speeds.

Space is filled with such invisible magnetic fields that make up the paths of plasma and around the Earth, the same magnetic field that makes the compass go north directs plasma through space around our planet and on the sun, magnetic fields release solar flares and bulges directly from the plasma, known as the solar wind, and transmitted through the solar system. . And when the solar wind reaches Earth, it can drive active processes, such as the aurora and space weather, which, if strong enough, can damage satellites and communications.

2. Temperature extremes

The Earth experiences a wide range of temperatures. Records show that extreme temperatures may reach about 57 degrees Celsius to -89 degrees Celsius, but what we consider extreme on Earth is the average recorded in space. On planets without an insulating atmosphere, temperatures fluctuate wildly between day and night. Mercury regularly sees days when the temperature is about 449 degrees Celsius, and nights are very cold, reaching -171 degrees Celsius.

It is noteworthy that the satellites and instruments that NASA sends into space are carefully designed to withstand the extremes of space weather. The astronauts’ suit is also designed to withstand temperatures from -157 degrees Celsius to 121 degrees Celsius. They are white to reflect light during exposure to the sun, and heaters are placed throughout the inside of the suit to warm the astronauts in the dark. It is also designed to provide consistent pressure and oxygen, and to withstand damage from micrometeorites and the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

3. Cosmic chemistry

Right now, the Sun compresses hydrogen into helium in its core. The process of joining atoms together under great pressure and temperature, and forming new elements, is called “fusion.” When the universe was born, it contained mostly hydrogen and helium, plus a dash of some other light elements. Since then, fusion has fueled stars and supernovae. The universe has more than 80 other elements, some of which make life possible.

The sun and other stars are excellent fusion machines, as every second, the sun fuses about 600 million metric tons of hydrogen, and this is about 102 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Besides the formation of new elements, the fusion releases huge amounts of energy and light particles called photons, which It takes about 250,000 years to reach about 700,000 km, to reach the surface of the Sun visible from the solar core. Then, it takes light just eight minutes to travel 150 million kilometers to Earth. Fusion, the reverse nuclear reaction that breaks down heavy elements into smaller ones, was first demonstrated in laboratories in the 1930s and is used today in nuclear power plants.

4. Magnetic explosions

Every day, the space around the Earth causes giant explosions. When the solar wind pushes the current of charged particles from the Sun against the magnetic environment that surrounds and protects the Earth’s magnetosphere, they become entangled with the magnetic fields of the Sun and Earth and eventually trigger and realign the magnetic field lines, releasing nearby charged particles. This explosive event is known as magnetic reconnection, and while we can’t see magnetic reconnection with our naked eyes, we can see its effects. Occasionally, some turbulent particles stream into Earth’s upper atmosphere, where they excite the aurora and magnetic reconnection occurs throughout the universe wherever there are twisted magnetic fields.

5. Supersonic shocks

On Earth, one easy way to transfer energy is to push something. This often happens through collisions, such as when winds cause trees to sway. But in outer space, particles can transfer energy without touching it. This strange transfer occurs in invisible structures known as shocks and in the case of shocks, energy is transferred through plasma waves and electric and magnetic fields. For example, imagine the particles as a flock of birds flying together, and if a tailwind catches the birds and pushes them, they fly faster even though nothing seems to be pushing them forward. Particles behave the same way when they suddenly encounter a magnetic field. The magnetic field can essentially give it a forward thrust and shock waves can form when things move at supersonic speeds, i.e. faster than the speed of sound. If the supersonic flow encounters something stationary, it forms the arc shock phenomenon, which occurs when the magnetosphere interacts An astrophysical object with surrounding plasma flowing nearby as the solar wind.

The shocks appear elsewhere in space, such as active supernovae ejecting clouds of plasma. In rare cases, shocks can be created temporarily on Earth, and this occurs when bullets and aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound All five of these strange phenomena are common in space. Although some of them can be cloned in special lab cases, they can’t often be found under normal conditions here on Earth. NASA is studying these strange things in space so that scientists can analyze their properties, providing insight into the complex physics that underpins our universe.

Source: NASA

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