Samuel Okoruwa
Sometimes it can be hard to believe that we really are just tiny little beings in an enormous universe full of mysteries and wonders. Earth is indeed a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. With the billions and billions of planets, stars, and other cosmic bodies scientists have discovered, it is hard for one not to question one’s existence.
Here are just some of the facts about space that will leave you terrified, and at the same time amazed, at how large the universe is and how small you are in comparison.
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1. There Are 10 Times More Stars In The Universe Than There Are Grains Of Sands On Earth
In case you never knew, scientists estimate that there are seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains of sands. Put that in numbers, and you have 7,500,000,000,000,000,000! That’s a lot of zeroes.
Now, when it comes to stars, scientists have used their hubble telescopes and calculators to count the number of galaxies, faint stars, red dwarfs, and every other star they’ve ever recorded in the universe and boom! They arrived at 70 thousand million, million, million stars. That means, for every grain of sand, there are multiple stars. Sorry grains, but you stand no chance!
2. The Sun Covers 99.8 Percent Of The Solar System’s Mass
That’s 1,989,100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg in mass! This means that about one million earths could fit into the sun.
The remaining 0.2% of the solar system contains the asteroids, planets, moons, and every other bit of matter, including everything found on earth.
3. In Space No One Can Hear You Scream
If this doesn’t give you nightmares, then I don’t know what will. But yes, this is how it really works. Sound travels through mechanical waves, hence it needs something to travel through. Here on earth, you can hear sounds because they travel through air particles. But in space, the particles are too far apart for our ears to pick up mechanical waves. So, you can’t hear a thing in space.
4. You Can Fit Three Planets Of Earth’s Size Into Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. 
You can see how small the earth looks when compared to Jupiter.
5. All The Stars, Galaxies, And Planets Make Up Just 4% Percent Of The Universe
The remaining 96% of the galaxy has not been explored by scientists. Though they speculate that it is made out of other incomprehensible forms of matter such as dark matter and dark energy.
6. There Are Giant Gas Clouds Of Alcohol In The Constellation Of Aquila That Are Enough To Make almost 400 trillion pints of beer.
A group of British scientists made this finding in 1995. They discovered over 30 other chemicals in the cloud but alcohol was the main one.
7. Scientists Have Discovered Over A Thousand Planets Outside Our Solar System Over The Past Twenty Years
8. If You Combined All The Other Planets In The Solar System, Jupiter Will Be Two And A Half Times Bigger Than Them.
9. If You Fell Into A Black Hole, You’d Get Stretched Like A Spaghetti
This process is called spaghettification. And yes, that’s a real word.
10. To Match The Energy The Sun Produces, You Would Need To Explode 100 Billion Tons Of Dynamite Every 10 Seconds
So, when you consider all these facts, it should give you an idea of how tiny you are in this enormous universe.
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