The night sky is always filled with bright stars, especially in rural areas. If you went stargazing, you would’ve realized how incredible the stars in the night sky alone, let alone the moon, comet showers, and planets that are temporarily visible to the naked eye. If not, I strongly recommend stargazing whenever possible because it is an experience you will not forget! Whether you want stargazing or not, it is common to note down that there are many stars in our universe. In more charming words, we can presume that there are a numerous amount of immensely beautiful stars that are observable in the night sky. However, there are also a lot of interesting facts about stars that you may be unaware of. Before you go on your next stargazing, I recommend you remember these fun facts!
1. In the night sky, you can observe things 20 quadrillion miles away!
20 quadrillion miles is an unbelievably big number. In fact, the total distance of circumference of Earth’s equator is approximately 24 901 miles. If you calculate correctly, you would find that 20 quadrillion miles is the same as travelling 24 901 miles 803.2 billion times! This fact may be very interesting, but keep in mind, you can only observe this far on good nights. Meaning: plan your stargazing sessions when it does not seem like it is cloudy or any other obstruction preventing you from seeing that far.
2. Every star you see is bigger and brighter than the sun!
This may come as a surprise to some of you, but keep in mind, the sun is the closest star to us than all of the other stars in the entire universe. Because the sun is closest, it would make sense to conclude that it is bigger and brighter than other stars. However, considering the previous fun fact, we can observe stars that are unimaginably far away. Think about it. The earth’s distance from the sun is 1 AU (Astronomical Unit). Now, imagine a star that is 215156003 AU (approximately 20 quadrillion miles) away from our earth. Of course, in order for us to see a star that is that far away from us, that star would have to be incredibly bigger and shining much brighter than our now seemingly pathetic sun (However, never forget that the sun is still the most important star in our solar system).
3. Red stars are COLDER than blue stars! Blue stars are the HOTTEST!
Depending on if you have been taught this in school or not, red is actually the coldest fire. To prove that red (and also orange) are the coldest colors, please observe the the candle picture below.
– Notice how there is a blue color sitting on the base of the candle. That blue color is the hottest part of the flame due to it being more exposed to the oxygen that causes the fire.
Typically, from our limited everyday experiences, we infer that red flames are hot. However, while they are indeed hot, they are still the coldest color flame to exist. The same logic applies to the temperature of a star: its hottest color is blue and its coldest color is red. All the different color stars you see in the night sky are all in different temperatures. Next time, when you see a barrage of stars painted in a night sky, like in the picture below, remember that blue stars are the hottest!
I hope you had fun learning these three interesting facts about stars! I advise that you do not forget any of these the next time you look at the stars in the night sky. Nonetheless, I hope you have a great rest of your day and consider stargazing to end it. Stargazing is always super fun! I strongly recommend it to everyone!
