Reverting Destruction - The Earth is Healing

April 5, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

As we all know that the corona has struck the whole world very hard. It has affected the whole world and has infected thousands, leading to thousands of deaths. Until now, there are 1,352,158 confirmed cases and 75,294 deaths. On the contrary to this, the world is healing itself and, in this blog, I’ll explain how the world is healing.

If we put aside the tragedies caused to humans by COVID-19. Humans have put a full stop on many global economic activities and production facilities. By this, I mean that factories have been closed down, cars on roads have reduced and many more things that are in fact, dangerous for our climate, have stopped and due to this, there have been immense decreases in greenhouse gases as well as pollution. The grand canal in Venice, which is normally brimming with boat traffic is now empty and the water in the canals has become crystal clear due to a decrease in pollution. Just take a look at this picture of the canal. 

Image Source: Andrea Pattaro, Getty Images

Just think about how beautiful the world is when there are no humans. As I explained in my previous blog, killings and genocides have also stopped due to this global emergency in places like Kashmir where people were in lockdown for months.

Moreover, in Feb, the carbon emissions in China have reduced by 25% which is an enormous number because this 25% means a 200 million ton drop in carbon dioxide. Even though this is a global tragedy and thousands are dying which all of us are agonized about but; I just want to make the humans realize that if it weren’t for them, this planet would have been much better. By this I don’t mean that we humans should’ve never existed but, I mean that if we would do small efforts to prevent global catastrophes such as climate change; we would make the life of the next generation much safer and easier. Furthermore, due to the decreased air traffic, the skies are now much clearer. The people of Beijing are enjoying blue skies after years because of the decrease in Industrial activities.

This is a picture of Beijing 3 years ago: 

Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9654d4dwVmw

This is a picture of Beijing now:

Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9654d4dwVmw

Just look at these images and think again, what we have been doing to this beloved planet. We still have time to take action and do something before it’s too late. Otherwise, we have nowhere else to go. We have to change the mindset of only thinking about our own betterment; we should also think about the future of the coming generations.

The satellite image below shows the changes in the levels of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere which is a very dangerous greenhouse gas. Just look at what changes have occurred just because of a few months of the absence of industrial activities:

Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9654d4dwVmw

This blog was based on my opinion. The main purpose of this blog was not to say that COVID-19 is good for humans (there are people out there who make accusations like these). The main purpose of the blog was to make you realize that just because of the stoppage of industrial activity for a few months, the world is healing. Again, by this, I don’t mean that we should close down industries, no! We can use many other ways to manufacture goods without any damage to the ecosystem. If we stopped funding fossil fuels and instead, invested in renewable energy, we could produce the goods that we do now without any damage to the ecosystem. 

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Corona hits hard

March 29, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

We, humans, have collectively caused damage to the equilibrium of nature through all kinds of means including wars, deforestation and many other things; now, in my opinion, nature is taking its revenge. However, there is still a great opportunity for us to stabilize our lives by saying no to wars, genocides and innocent killings of not only humans but also animals. Nature has given us a head start in doing so.

What is Covid-19?

Covid-19 is part of a large group of viruses (The Coronaviruses) that infect both humans as well as animals; hence, they cause respiratory illnesses in a human that can range from common colds to serious diseases. Before Corona, a very likely virus known as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was detected in Southern China in 2002 and just like Covid-19 it spread around the world affecting 26 countries resulting in 8,000 confirmed cases; consequently, leading to 774 deaths. However, the tolls of cases and deaths due to the Covid-19 have surpassed SARS.

Covid-19 is also known as the coronavirus however; a more specific name for Covid-19 is Sars CoV-2. The most common symptoms of Covid-19 are dry cough and fever but, in some cases, it can also lead to a severe respiratory problem leading to pneumonia and bronchitis. Covid-19 can only lead people with existing illnesses or a weak immune system to these severe limits. Hence, old people are the most vulnerable to these severe respiratory diseases. Moreover, research on the early 44,415 Chinese Coronavirus patients showed that 81 percent of people affected only experienced mild symptoms. Among the remaining cases, 14 percent experienced severe respiratory illnesses. Only 2.3 percent of all the confirmed cases died due to the virus.

How Far has Corona Spread?

Till March 11, Chinese health authorities have recorded over 81,102 cases and 3,231 deaths. China has now slowed down the spread of the virus in their country due to strict preventive measures but the virus is now heavily affecting the rest of the world.

Currently, there are confirmed cases in over 150 countries around the globe. After China, the most affected country is Italy where 97,689 cases have been reported, mostly in the northern regions of the country. Consequently, 10,779 deaths have been reported in Italy.

Furthermore, Spain has also been greatly affected by the virus and 78,799 cases have been reported leading to 6,606 deaths. The Government is taking all the necessary steps to prevent the virus to spread even further. All schools, restaurants, markets, and bars have been closed.

Moreover, Iran is also facing a huge number of confirmed cases due to the virus and 38,309 cases have been reported leading to 2,640 deaths.

The USA has also been affected largely with 133,094 cases and 2,363 deaths.

How did all this start and where exactly?

As many of you probably already know that this virus originates from a seafood market in Wuhan, China. Wild animals such as snakes and birds are illegally traded in this city.

Image Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/virus-sparks-soul-searching-over-chinas-wild-animal-trade-11580055290

Most probably, this disease has been spread from an infected animal to the stall keepers and then to the customers.

The research on what caused this virus is still on and many countries are working hard to find the cause as well as a vaccine for the virus so that in the future, the virus is prevented.

The markets in Wuhan were shut down for research and cleaning on 1^st January. The chances of containing the disease have greatly deteriorated due to the spread around the world. Hence, scientists are trying their best to contain the virus as much as possible. Many of the governments of countries have shut down schools, restaurants and any other work that requires going out of the home. In my country, Pakistan, schools have been closed till 1st June to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Overview

Corona has greatly spread all around the world; there have been 708,020 total confirmed cases and 33,529 deaths. On March 11, the WHO (World Health Organization) had officially declared that the Corona virus is a pandemic. Moreover, on 30^th January the WHO had already classified this problem as a global emergency; thus, all of the countries have to work together to contain the virus and prevent it from spreading any further. The speed of the spread has been reduced however; it has not yet stopped. We should all work together and cooperate with our leadership. Please report to the nearest hospital if you experience any symptoms of the virus. Please try not to go outside your houses unless it is urgent to do so. Wash your hands for 20 seconds to remove the virus from your hands if it has reached it. 

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

From Smallest to Biggest

March 22, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

As I have explained in many of my blogs, the universe is a huge place that is literally never-ending. Not only is this so big, but it is also expanding at ever-increasing rates. It has numerous types of celestial bodies in it and so, in this blog, I will highlight some of the main types of celestial bodies in the universe in an order of how big is it.

The first and smallest celestial body in the universe is an asteroid. These things exist in the number of millions in many solar systems. The question that would pop into your mind is how did these objects form? Well, in our star system, these objects were formed in the early solar system and are the remains of the violent events of the early solar systems such as the collision of planets.

Image Source: https://www.newsweek.com/giant-asteroid-world-tallest-building-sail-earth-1487404

A strange fact is that more than 150 asteroids have been known to have moons. In our star system, these asteroids exist in the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt. I have explained in detail about these celestial bodies in one of my previous blogs.

The second celestial body that I'll highlight is a moon. A moon is the natural satellite of any planet. Our planet Earth also has a moon named Luna.

Image Source: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/overview/

Our moon formed due to the collision of a Mars-sized planet named "Theia" with Earth. The highest number of moons a planet in our star system has is 79 moons, which orbit Jupiter.

The third celestial body on my list is a planet. Most of you may know about what they are right? Due to the fact that we are living on the one right now.

Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCDVN7DCzYE

Planets are celestial bodies that orbit a star in an elliptical orbit. In our star system, there are 8 planets. There are even planets that orbit no star at all. These planets are rogue planets who travel alone in this cold vacuum. I have explained one in one of my previous blogs.

The next celestial body that I'll explain is a star. Stars are huge glowing balls of gas mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. These stars make energy through Thermo-nuclear fusion (a very complex topic to talk about). Our star is the Sun which all of the 8 planets, millions of asteroids and many dwarf planets orbit.

Image Source: https://www.universetoday.com/16338/the-sun/

The largest known star in our whole universe is UY Scuti in front of which our star seems nothing at all.

The next celestial body I'll talk about is one of the biggest in our whole universe. It is known as a galaxy. These celestial bodies contain millions or even billions of stars and gases held together due to a strong gravitational attraction from probably, a supermassive central black hole in the center of it. Our galaxy named Milky Way alone has billions of stars even though it is not one of the biggest in the universe.

Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5AdrupH788

The supermassive central black hole in our galaxy is named Sagittarius A*. This black hole is literally too big. The biggest known galaxy to us is IC 1101.

I did not explain in detail the celestial bodies because I just wanted to give an overview of the types of celestial bodies from the smallest to biggest. 

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Strangest Planets That Exist - 3

March 15, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad

I have written multiple blogs on this topic and in this blog, just like the previous blogs, I’ll share some of the strangest planets that exist in our universe.

The first planet that I’ll talk about is CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9. This planet was discovered in 2012 by a group of French and Canadian Astronomers. This planet is a rogue planet that is intriguing. This planet orbits no star at all and wanders in the emptiness of space all alone. It has a mass of 4-5 times the mass of Jupiter, which is too much and is 130 light-years away. Some say that this planet was kicked out of its system by the gravitational force of other planets that were its neighbors. Moreover, this planet consists of a lot of heavy elements and shines bright. This planet also emits infrared radiations into space directly which means that it emits heat into space. It has an average temperature of about 400 Degree Celsius which is due to the nuclear fusion that it does. This planet may also contain methane as well as water in it. 

Image Source: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/107/the-free-floating-planet-cfbdsir-j2149472-0403089/

The next planet I’ll talk about is Psr J1719–1483 B which is a very strange planet due to the fact that it orbits a Pulsar. Now, Pulsars are some of the densest objects in the universe. They are so dense that one spoon of the matter of a Pulsar has a mass equal to Mount Everest.

A Pulsar: 

Image Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-continues-to-study-pulsars-50-years-after-their-chance-discovery/

This Pulsar in specific has a diameter of 19 km but still has a mass of 1.4 times the mass of the Sun. Pulsars also spin violently fast and some can spin up to 700 times a second. The planet PSR J1719–1483 B orbits this Pulsar in 2 hours.

Another Planet that I’ll talk about is TrEs-4b which is one of the largest known planets in the universe. 

Image Source: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrES-4b

It is located 1400 light-years away from us in the Hercules Constellation. Even though this planet has a size, which is 1.7 bigger than that of Jupiter, it has a very low density and hence it is categorized as a ‘Puffy Planet’. The shocking thing is that the density of this planet is the same as cork which has shocked Astronomers. However, astronomers say that this phenomenon is due to the extremely high temperatures on the planet (1260 Celsius) because it orbits only at a distance of 7.2 million light-years away from its Star.

The last planet I’ll talk about is known as the Genesis Planet. This planet will shock you because it is extremely old. It is 12.7 billion years old and thus, it is also called Methuselah who was the oldest man according to the bible. The real astronomical name of the planet is PSR-B162028B. Another great thing about the planet is that it is the first one to orbit a star in a cluster of almost 100 thousand stars. Surprisingly, it orbits two stars with one being a neutron star that spins at the rate of 100 times per second.

Strangest Galaxies That Exist-2

March 8, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

As I explained in my first blog on this same topic, our universe is overwhelmingly huge. It extends over billions of light-years across. As we know, the larger something is, the easier it is to find extreme objects within. I have discussed many strange celestial bodies in my previous blogs but, in those blogs didn’t include galaxies. Hence, in this blog too I will cover some more strange galaxies we have discovered.

The first galaxy I’ll talk about is NGC 6946 which is also known as the Fireworks galaxy. This galaxy is also a cannibal galaxy just as Andromeda galaxy which will collide with our Milky way in just a few billion years. 

 

Image Source: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/fireworks-galaxy-ngc6946.html

NGC 6946 is eating up the mass of three of its companion galaxies and has already done eating half of their mass. It is called the fireworks galaxy due to huge number of supernovae (celestial bodies that are formed due to the explosion of a star when it runs out of fuel) in it. 

The galaxy I’ll talk about has a huge name; WISE J224607.57-052635.0. It is located in the Aquarius Constellation is a very bright galaxy that shines more than 300 trillion suns combined. 

 

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WISE_J224607.57%E2%88%92052635.0

Probably, there is a supermassive black hole at the center of this galaxy which has formed an accretion disk around it due to the gas, dust and space debris. These accretion disks are super-accelerated churning masses of particles that are among the brightest objects in the whole universe. The temperature of these disks reaches up to millions of degrees and emits Ultra-violet as well as X-rays due to which the clouds of dust around the black hole heat up. These clouds then radiate, making their parent galaxy insanely bright. 

Another strange galaxy that I’ll explain about is Messier 63 which is located 57 million light-years from us in the Canes Venatici Constellation. 

 

Image Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/messier-63-the-sunflower-galaxy

This galaxy looks like a sunflower as it consists of a central disk which is surrounded by small sleeves that contain blue and white stars. The strange thing about this galaxy is that it has a strange ability to change its color. The core remains bright yellow and its sleeves change colors to blue, brown, white and purple. 

The last galaxy I’ll talk about is Messier 94 which is a spiral galaxy located in the Canes Venatici constellation, the same as the previous galaxy I talked about.

 

Image Source: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA17011

When you look at this galaxy, it seems as if it’s a huge hurricane. You will get this perception because of the bright blue sleeves of rapidly forming stars that surround the galaxy. These stars are rapidly forming due to the pressure from the center of the galaxy which forces the gases to move to the sleeves of the galaxy forming gas clouds and then stars because these gases have star-forming material packed in them such as Hydrogen and Helium. 

In this blog which was the second of its topic, I explained some more strange galaxies that exist in our galaxies. There are many other galaxies that may be strange but I only highlighted the ones which seemed strange to me. 

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

The Starburst Galaxy

March 1, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

Our universe is overwhelmingly huge. It extends over billions of light-years across. As we know, the larger something is, the easier it is to find extreme objects within. I have discussed many strange celestial bodies in my previous blogs but, those blogs didn’t include galaxies. Hence, in this blog, I will cover a strange type of galaxy known as a starburst galaxy. 

Our night-sky is all covered by bright objects that are fascinating to gaze at. However, you are looking at those objects in the past. This phenomenon happens because as we know, the light also takes time to reach farther places. Therefore, the light from those distant objects also takes time to reach us. Let’s take the example of the closest start to us which is Proxima Centauri. It is approximately 4.2 light-years away from us. Thus, if the star explodes just right now, we will see the explosion after about 4 years because the light from the explosion will take 4 years to reach us in the speed of light.

The galaxy I'll explain briefly about is one of my favorites. It is a pair of galaxies known as ADFS-27. These galaxies belong to a rare group of celestial objects called Starburst galaxies. 

Image Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-07392-5

Some even refer to this pair as antennae galaxies. This is a very bright pair of galaxies located almost 12.6 billion light-years away from us. This means it took the light from these galaxies almost 12.6 billion years to reach us, which is almost the age of the whole universe. We are looking at this object 12.6 billion years in the past. This object is basically, two galaxies that are colliding/merging into each other which might be the most explosive and violent collision in the history of the universe. These galaxies are more than 10 times larger than the Milky Way galaxy. Stars are being produced in these galaxies almost 1000 times faster than our very own Milky Way and this just won’t stop because there are almost 50 times more star-forming materials in these galaxies than in the Milky Way. These galaxies just won’t stop forming stars and getting brighter for the next millions or even billions of years. Right now, the galaxy would’ve probably been formed but we can’t see that because time will take 12.6 billion years to reach us from this place. Most probably, the result of the collision will be an elliptical galaxy, which is the largest type of galaxies that exist in the universe. We don’t exactly know why these galaxies behave like this; what causes them to behave like this and what is their end result but whatever it is, we will soon find it out.

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Boötes Void

23rd February 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

On this very own rocky planet Earth, we humans have made many discoveries and have uncovered places in the universe that are billions of light-years away from us. Though there are many secrets yet to uncover, there are some mysteries that we still can’t solve. In this vast vacuum of space, exist billions of objects that may be very creepy and nerve-racking due to their strange features. However, among all these strange objects, the greatest mystery is the literal nothingness. 

 

Image Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/331999803762953131/

It is the Boötes void. This is not just a small place; it is 350 million light-years in diameter. This makes it one of the biggest places in the universe. This creepy place has confused scientists from about 40 years but still, the scientists can’t find out how such a vast place of nothingness could even exist. In 1981, Robert Kirshner and his team were gazing at the universe for huge objects that were moving away from us due to the expansion of the universe but luckily, they found an empty place in the Boötes constellation approximately 700 million light-years away from us. Naturally, this place should contain approximately 10,000 galaxies and trillions of stars but it is just an empty place with nothing. After 40 years of research, they could only find 60 galaxies in this place. 
 

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo%C3%B6tes_void

We have found many voids and understood how they can exist but the problem with Boötes void is that how can avoid such big be situation such perfectly centered between a huge array of stars and galaxies. A scientist named Greg stated that if Earth would’ve been in the center of the void, we wouldn’t have found out that there were more galaxies until the 1960s. The main question is that how did this void form. Now, we know that voids are formed all the time which doesn’t defy any law of science. However. for a void of the size of Boötes void, the universe should be a lot older than we know for such a phenomenon to happen naturally. This even caused doubts against the big bang theory. 

There are some theories about this void with one being that some strange object in the void is pushing out dark energy throughout millions of light-years but as we don’t know much about dark energy, this theory is one that we are not much sure about yet. Some say that the galaxies all got into one point of singularity which may be a supermassive black hole but, this also remains a mystery because we don’t know much about the activity near black holes. Moreover, this theory also challenges the big bang as for the vast number of galaxies, moving into one spot would again suggest that the universe is older than we know. 

Furthermore, one likely theory that maybe they are coming together due to attraction at their boundaries and merging; moreover, the 60 galaxies in the void seem to have weird, tube-like shapes which may be the biggest clue to this mystery. Due to attraction at their boundaries, the small voids are emerging into each other in a soap bubble kind of phenomenon. The tube-like shapes of the galaxies may be caused by the remains of boundaries between two bodies. 

This void may remain a great mystery for the coming decades but soon, we will find out what is this and how it formed.  

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Creepiest celestial objects in the Universe

February 16, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

The Universe is a ginormous place beyond our imagination. This vastness means that a variety of celestial bodies can exist in this large vacuum of space out of which, many can be strange and creepy. In this blog, I will highlight some of the creepiest places in the universe. These objects are very appealing and attract our attention easily. That is why this blog might seem very interesting to you. 

The first object I’m going to highlight about is PSO J38.5338-22.8603. This planet is strangely different from many planets in the universe because unlike the others, this planet doesn’t orbit any star. Therefore, it is a rogue planet. Even though the planet is lurking in the darkness and coldness of space, it still burns on. This planet still burns to a temperature of 800 degrees Celsius. Not just this but, it also rains rocks on this planet. It has a diameter of 21,3927 km and has 5 natural satellites/moons. 

Image Source: http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/science-free-floating-exoplanet-01450.html

Scientists say that this object was a part of a group of stars that formed 12 million years ago. The terrifying thing about this planet which even we don’t understand is that how do these planets end up in space like this and how can this rogue planet be so hot even in the cold vacuum in its surroundings where there isn’t even any star to light up its skies or give it heat. 

The second object I'll explain is the Boomerang nebula which is also known as Centaurus Bipolar nebula. This nebula has a diameter of 4.11 light-years. This number is overwhelmingly large and surprising this object exists in our very own Milky way galaxy. This planetary nebula has been formed by a dying red giant star that exists 5000 light-years from Earth. 

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomerang_Nebula

This object is the coldest in the known universe having an average temperature of -272 degrees Celsius. Some say that this low temperature may be the result of the main star colliding with a smaller companion star. 

The last object I will talk about is RX J1347. This object is a gas cloud that surrounds a galaxy cluster in the Virgo constellation. It is the hottest place in the known universe reaching a temperature of 300 million degrees Celsius. 

Image Source: https://arxiver.wordpress.com/2016/07/19/merger-hydrodynamics-of-the-luminous-cluster-rxj1347-5-1145-cea/

Scientists say that this gas cloud was formed due to the collision of two massive galaxy clusters that may have been one of the most violent events in the universe’s existence. This gas cloud covers 450,000 light-year area. This number is too big for us humans to imagine.  

We, humans, are just small creatures in this massive place. The universe is just too large for us to imagine or even reach out to. We have found many strange places in this vast vacuum of space and will continue to find more. We are making discoveries at ever-increasing speeds but still, we haven’t seen anything at all compared to the size of this huge universe. I will write another blog on this topic soon and will uncover many more creepy places in the universe. 

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Leave Earth? Why?

Sunday, 2nd February 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

Life has evolved on the Earth in billions of years. Many living things have lived and then died, some species survived the harsh conditions they faced from disasters and some were bemused on what to do and became extinct. Just like the dinosaurs met their fate by facing extinction to a huge asteroid named ‘Chicxulub’. 

Image Source: https://www.newsweek.com/extinction-asteroid-wiped-out-dinosaurs-catastrophic-global-winter-699009

We, humans, have lived for almost 200,000 years on this planet and have prospered because of the resources that this planet offered. However, we can meet the fate of the dinosaurs anytime. Not only an asteroid but many other natural as well as man-made disasters can wipe us all out. Though asteroids that can wipe all life on Earth only hit the Earth about every 500,000 years, we still never know what can hit us anytime. As I have explained in my previous blogs, there are many threats to humans that can lead them to extinction. Any major escalation of a war between nuclear-possessing countries can lead to the use of nuclear weapons which are capable of wiping out humanity but how? Some of you may be thinking that the bombs will only affect a small area. Well, whoever thinks that is wrong. The strongest bomb today is the Tsar bomb which is 1500 times more dangerous than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined. Just think of what these bombs can do. 

Image Source: https://www.quora.com/Are-there-currently-any-unexploded-nukes-that-are-as-powerful-or-more-powerful-than-the-Tsar-Bomba

Firstly, after the explosion, there won’t be a rise in temperatures. In fact, it will result in global cooling and cause a nuclear winter. Consequently, it would damage the ozone layer and later it will cause droughts which will be decades-long. These types of conditions would kill nearly all life on Earth just in a few months. 

Moreover, a supervolcano eruption can also destroy everything in its range and later form ash clouds that would stop the process of photosynthesis as the sunlight won’t be able to reach us. Furthermore, humans are capable of making genetically engineered viruses that can kill a lot of humans.

Humans are capable of achieving the impossible. It is their curiosity that helps them travel in this vast universe. It is our curiosity that will lead us to inventions that will help us travel the deep space. I hope we will be able to invent something like that in time. 

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.

Misconceptions about the Universe

February 2^nd, 2020

By: Haris Ahmad[1]

The universe is a vast place, which is constantly expanding. It is immeasurable heaven that we have studied a bit. Many people have a lot of misconceptions about the universe, which literally makes no sense. In this blog, I will highlight some of the main misconceptions about the universe and give counter-arguments in defense.

The first misconception is that there is a dark side of the moon. The word ‘dark’ basically means the absence of light, as darkness is not a thing itself. The moon is tidally locked while orbiting the Earth. Hence, we can only see one side of it but wait. This doesn’t mean that the other side of the Moon is dark. It’s just that the other side of the Moon is not observable from the Earth. Each side of the Moon has two weeks of day and two weeks of night. Therefore, there is no such thing as the dark side of the Moon. The following image of the moon, taken by Luna 3, launched by the Soviet Union in 1959 proved the fact that that Moon has no dark side.

Image Source: https://www.wired.com/2011/10/1007luna-3-photos-dark-side-moon/

The second misconception about the universe is that black holes act like funnels. This misconception basically rose after the images of how a black hole bends space-time. A Blackhole is not a funnel. A Black Hole is a spherical hole, which due to its immense gravitational force; will pull anything near it towards itself. The gravitational pull of these objects is so immense that not even light can escape from it.

Another misconception about the universe, which is very common, is that Mercury is the hottest planet in the Solar System due to the fact that it is the closest planet to the Sun. This is totally wrong because the hotness of a celestial body does not only depend on its distance from its star. 

Even though Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun orbiting at a distance of 57 million km, and has the highest surface temperature of 427 degrees Celsius, it is still not the hottest because it has no atmosphere. This planet has no atmosphere, due to which heat cannot be trapped inside the planet. On the other hand, Venus is almost twice the distance from the Sun than of Mercury. However, Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System reaching a temperature of 462 degrees Celsius. The reason for its hotness is its thick atmosphere, which traps the heat from the Sun inside the planet.

Lastly, another misconception is that space probes cannot travel through the asteroid belt because due to the vast number of asteroids, it will collide with one and will get destroyed. Well, this is also greatly wrong, as, even though the asteroid belt has millions of asteroids packed in it, the asteroids are very distant from each other. Therefore, the chances of colliding with one are one in a billion. For example, NASA has sent 11 probes through this belt and not even one has ever got close to an asteroid.

Remember, we need to verify the information before we spread it among others because if that information is wrong, the other people that you have spread it to, will also spread it among others which will affect many points of view, wrongly. 

---

[1] Haris Ahmad is currently studying in 9^th grade (O levels) in The City School Islamabad.