Common misconceptions about Space

Misconceptions busted! Find out some of the misconceptions that you may have about space

We may never be able to know everything about the universe but thanks to science, technology, and the human will to eternally seek and explore, the outer space seems less alien now. However, there are still some myths about space that many of us have.

The colour of the Sun: The Sun is something that we have been seeing all our lives. But what if we told you that the Sun is neither orange nor yellow? If you look at the Sun from space, it is in fact White as it has all the colours mixed together. The Earth’s atmosphere scatters colours with shorter wavelength (green, violet, and blue) and allows only the reds, oranges, and yellows to get through.

The hottest planet: If you also thought that the answer is Mercury, then you are mistaken. Many think that since Mercury is closest to the Sun, it must be the hottest. The fact is that the surface temperature on Mercury varies from -173°C at night to 427°C at day time. Venus, the second planet from the Sun is in fact the hottest owing to its thick atmosphere of mainly carbon dioxide and some nitrogen. The temperature on Venus’ surface remains about 462°C all through the year.

The dark side of the Moon: What if we told you that the Moon does NOT have a dark side? The fact is that from Earth, we always see the same side of the Moon. The other side gets just the same amount of sunlight as the one visible to us. So, when the hemisphere of the Moon that is facing away from the Earth is called “dark”, it means "unknown" and not "lacking sunlight”.

Black holes suck in everything: The first image that comes into our head when we think of a black hole is that of a vacuum cleaner, something that sucks everything in. The fact is that Black holes do not suck. The gravitational pull of a Black hole is just a lot stronger than that of a regular star. Objects fall into them just as they fall toward anything that exerts gravity.

So, the next time you look up at the sky, know that there is still a lot that we do not know and it is always a good idea to keep questioning everything that you think you know!