KIDS – Interesting information – 197

Wacky facts (1)

⬤ Once in England because of a waterspout, it rained frogs!

⬤ Almost two-thirds of the earth’s surface is covered by water. If the earth were flat, water would cover everything in a layer 3,2km deep!

⬤ During a solar eclipse, the shadows of leaves make the same crescent shape of the eclipsing sun. The image is made by light passing through tiny holes in the leaves.

⬤ Monks in the 16th century recorded seeing a giant explosion on the side of the Moon. It most likely was a large meteor that slammed into the moon and left a large crater. It was a good thing the moon was between us and the meteor! See the rings of saturn while you can. They slowly wobble up and down over the years as saturn’s poles point away from then towards the sun. The rings disappear when edge on to our line of sight. Currently they are almost at their widest point and can be seen even in binoculars and small telescopes.

⬤ Stars viewed through even the largest telescopes look like tiny points of light. But astronomers, using the hubble space telescope to photograph a star called betelgeuse (pronounced “beetle jooze”), have now been able to see the surface of another star. Betelgeuse is a red giant star located at the left shoulder of the constellation orion and is the largest known star in our galaxy.

⬤ The hottest planet in the solar system is venus. At over 800 degrees, it is hotter than mercury because the clouds and abundant carbon dioxide hold in most of the heat received from the sun.