6 crazy facts about universe that'll blow your child's mind

The term universe conjures up the feelings of mystery, wonder, and adventure in our mind. It is comprised of billions of galaxies (a large group of stars, gas, and dust bound together by gravity), trillions of stars including sun, along with nearly countless planets (including earth and others in the solar system), moons, asteroids, comets and clouds of dust and gas. To put it simply, it includes the entire space, energy and matter. With its vastness and largely unexplored parts, the Universe instils a sense of enigma in us. Here are some interesting facts about space that will leave your child spellbound.  

More than 90% of the universe is yet to be unexplored 
We don't know much about the universe's depths since 96 per cent of its entire mass is unknown. Dark matter, which accounts for roughly 80% of the invisible matter in the universe, is thought to be made up of undiscovered subatomic particles. 

There is no sound in space 
Well, this is true to a large extent. In order to be created, sound requires particles. Also, it needs medium to travel. But in space, there is hardly any particle. That is why cosmic catastrophes like solar flares, supernovae and black hole mergers also go unheard.   

Space harbours floating water 
Scientists have discovered a massive cloud of water vapour floating around in space. It is located 30 billion miles away in a quasar – an enormously powerful cosmic body. According to the estimate of the scientists, the water cloud contains at least 140 trillion times the amount of water found in the seas and oceans of Earth.
 
Sun’s surface area is 11,990 times the Earth’s size 
To fill the Sun, it will need almost a million Earth-sized planets! Not only that, the Sun is nearly 3,000 times the size of the Earth and is 14.9 billion kilometres distant. Also, scientists predict that at some point of time, the earth will be devoured by sun.   
 
There are more craters on the moon than earth 
Throughout their 4.5 billion-year history, asteroids and meteors have collided with the Earth and the moon several times. However, why does the moon have more craters than the Earth? This is because the Earth is subjected to a variety of phenomena such as tsunamis, erosion, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, all of which can wipe out any evidence of previous hits. The moon has no such erosion. That is why its surface retains the craters created by collision. 

A dog has actually visited space 
A Russian spacecraft sent the first man-made object into space. The Soviet Union launched ‘Sputnik 2' on November 3, 1957, with a homeless dog named Laika aboard. Laika was the first dog to travel into space, but she died in orbit when the satellite failed to return to Earth.