WhatsUP! - is space really empty?

Written by TelescopeMan. Posted in Astronomy - Beginner Astronomy

WhatsUP!- What is BETWEEN the stars?

WhatsUP!- by TelescopeMan

Not much! --- but the distances are so vast the minute amounts of gas and dust add up and eventually you cannot see through them. If you watch the video posted here on Neighborsgo: http://neighborsgo.com/video/1488 you will see just how thick the interstellar "clouds" can become when we are discussing HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of light years!

The basic problem for normal folks is that we have a hard time imagining the distances between the stars. The closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri a dwarf star about 4.2 light years away. It takes light 4 years to travel the distance between Earth and the nearest star. ONE light year is 5,878,630,000,000 miles --- so multiply this number by 4.2 times to get the mileage to Proxima Centauri.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri

The center of the Milky Way Galaxy is about 28,000 light years away-- so when we look toward the center the almost complete vacuum of space becomes a "cloud" we call the interstellar medium. As the video shows this is mostly hydrogen atoms with dust and debris mixed-in for good measure. Here are several pictures that show the interstellar "cirrus clouds". By the way the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is in the direction of the Constellation Sagittarius

http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/ism/what1.html

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/I/Interstellar+Gas+Cloud

http://www.starrywonders.com/elephanttrunk.html

Using infrared telescopes we can peer through some of these clouds and see what's going on inside. The Spitzer Space Telescope was made to look at the infrared wavelength and see through the "FOG" of empty space that surrounds our solar system.

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/

Until next time, clear skies, and keep looking up to see the greatest show on Earth right over your head every night!