Is the Solar System Really a Vortex?

Is the Solar System Really a Vortex?

                                                    Is this really how the Solar System works? 

The short answer? No.

If you’re even a casual space fan you may have seen a viral gif animation showing our solar system traveling through space, the motions of the planets tracing corkscrew “vortex” paths around a line-driving Sun. While it’s definitely intriguing to watch (in that mesmerizingly-repetitive gif fashion) and rendered with a talented flair for design, there are two fundamental problems with it. One: it’s not entirely correct, scientifically, and two: its creator’s intention is to illustrate a decidedly un-scientific point of view about the Solar System and the Universe as a whole.

For the long answer, I now offer up the stage to astrophysicist , who recently posted an in-depth article describing why the planets do yet move… just not like that. 

Solar system “vortex” 

What it purports to show is the motion of the Solar System through space. But the accuracy of this has been utterly derided as an affront to scientific dignity. Which is a shame, because the is really quite nicely done, with good camera movement and a catchy soundtrack. The principle antagonist is notorious  Phil Plait, who wrote a convincing and virulent on the video. I decided to investigate for myself.

Like many people, I was at first glance really quite impressed with the video, and didn’t have any major objections to it. Obviously the orbits and size of the planets are not to scale (and I think their orbital speeds have be altered too), but that’s just to make them visible. Fair enough. But then I read Phil Plait’s analysis, and it seems that things are much, much worse than that. Says Plait :

“Sadhu shows the Sun leading the planets, ahead of them as it goes around the galaxy… This is not just misleading, it’s completely wrong.”

He clarifies :

“Sometimes the planets really are ahead of the Sun as we orbit in the Milky Way, and sometimes trail behind it (depending on where they are in their orbit around the Sun).” [my italics]

The orbits of the major planets of the solar system all lie in a narrow plane (like being in economy class! hahaha… sorry), which is tilted at about 60 degrees to the disc of stars that forms the Milky Way. Like this:

Credit : 

We’ll return to the tilt in a moment. But first, if the Sun was really leading the planets, then the thing is completely ludicrous (and this is quite a major part of Plait’s argument). Yet I’m not so sure the viral gif does show the Sun leading the planets. Having read through the , I can’t find any evidence that he suggests this. In fact, some of other videos on his website clearly show that this isn’t the case:

It seems to me that the appearance of the Sun leading the planets in the gif is just the result of a projection effect – i.e. that things can look different from different angles. On the other hand, Plait read the  for Sadhu’s model, so maybe there’s something in there that’s more explicit. I’ve glanced at it, but couldn’t find anything stating this precisely. Actually I couldn’t find a whole lot that was even vaguely coherent, but we’ll return to this later. For now, just keep in mind that Sadhu is using an alternative model, even though that may not always be evident.

What the gif definitely does not show is the fact that the orbits of the planets are tilted at about 60 degrees to the direction of the Sun’s motion. Says Plait :

“In the helical model, he shows the planets as orbiting around the Sun perpendicular to the motion of the Sun around the galaxy; “face-on”, if you like.This is wrong. Because the orbits of the planets are tipped by 60°, not 90°, they can sometimes be ahead and sometimes behind the Sun. That right there, and all by itself, shows this helical depiction is incorrect.”

There can be no mistaking that Sadhu’s video shows the orbits with the wrong tilt. But is that so critical? Well actually no, not really. Fact is that if you include the tilt, you still see the planets making a “spiral” pattern (technically it’s a  as they move through space. The overall appearance just isn’t that massively different compared to a 90-degree tilt.

Solar system model by Rhys Taylor (Click to play)

So what’s the big deal? What does the author claim in this internet sensation that’s so outrageous? Well, not much. That particular video/gif are actually fairly inoffensive, to my mind. The most basic notion that the planets trace helical paths through space is perfectly correct. What honestly surprises me is that this is so incredibly popular on the internet. If you weren’t aware that the Sun orbits the center of the galaxy — which, since the planets orbit it, necessitates that they trace out helical paths — then the education system has seriously failed. But do not despair! This can be remedied very, very easily.

Some Nice Pics Of vortex In Universe!!!!

10 Amazing Facts About the Universe You Won’t Believe !!!!!

The universe is a pretty amazing place, from the unimaginably large, right down to 

the incredibly small. There’s an awful lot going on in this field we call 

“existence.”With the recent discovery of what is most likely the elusive Higgs  Boson  

particle , or some variant thereof, by scientist’s working at the Large Hadron

Collider near Geneva, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding information having to do with 

the fabric of the universe. The standard model of theoretical physics says the Higgs 

boson particle is responsible for all the mass in the universe, which is a heck of a lot 

of matter.

Let’s take a look at some of this awe-inspiring matter now, as well as a look at the 

Higgs boson particle, and see how we fit inside the intricate patterns that make up 

everything.

1) Even When You’re Standing Still, You’re Still Moving

A human body, or any object on the Earth, is never at rest. Even when you’re asleep 

in bed, you’re moving pretty fast. Our Milky Way Galaxy is rotating at 225 kilometers 

per second, and hurling through the cosmos at an estimated 305 kilometers per 

second. Add those figures together, and we’re

, or 330 miles per second. So in one minute’s time, you’ve  traveled almost 

20,000 kilometers, or more than 12,000 miles. And your friends always complain that 

you never go anywhere.

2) There Are at Least 10 Billion Trillion Stars in the Universe

Small Magellanic Cloud, ESA/Hubble and A. Nota

That’s a very big number. When you really think about it, 

 makes the cult of sun worship seem a little obsolete, although our star, the 

sun, 

is very important to us. Without it, life on earth wouldn’t be possible.

Let’s put 10 billion trillion stars into perspective, shall we? For those of you who 

know a bit of math, that would be 10 to the power of 22 stars, or written out, it would 

be 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. There are probably more stars in existence than 

grains of sand on all of the world’s beaches. If only 1% of those stars had Earth-like 

planets, the universe would literally be teeming with life.

3) An Asteroid Might Hit The Earth in 2029

Paramount

This didn’t exactly end well.

The greatest chance so far, according to astronomers, of a large asteroid colliding 

with the earth and wiping life out is in 2029. Asteroids have hit the planet before, and 

caused mass extinctions, so there is some precedent for it happening again.

The culprit this time is the (99942 Apophis), which is headed our 

way in 2029. There’s a little less than a 3% chance that this bad boy will crash into 

terra firma. Let’s hope Apophis gives the planet a miss, otherwise you can stop 

paying into your retirement account right now.

4) Neutron Stars Are Very, Very Heavy

What exactly is a, you might be wondering? Well, neutron stars are the 

densest object known in the universe. They are created inside large stars during a 

supernova explosion. When the core of the star collapses, electron and proton pairs 

get crushed down into neutrons.

While neutron stars are only about 10-13 miles in diameter, they are heavier than 

many stars. A thimbleful, or sugar cube, amount of a neutron star weighs around 100 

million tons. That’s more than a large mountain.

5) We Are Made Out of Stars

That explains all the glitter GIFs.

Human beings are literally made out of . Almost all of the chemical elements 

that make up a person come from the stars. Any element heavier than hydrogen 

originated in the stars, and we are definitely composed of more than hydrogen.

Calcium, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and around 60 other basic ingredients 

make up a human being. Since hydrogen and helium were the only elements around 

before the stars “cooked” up some more, it’s a safe bet that most of the substance 

that constitutes the “physical” you comes from the stars.

6) One Million Earths Could Fit Inside The Sun

Even though there are a lot of stars out there, none is more important to us than our 

own sun. When compared to other stars, it’s fairly small, classified as a G2 dwarf 

star. But that doesn’t mean we’re complaining. Approximately 

 could fit inside this dwarf star. It might not be the largest star in the universe, 

but it gets the job done as far as sustaining life on Earth goes.

7) The Higgs Boson Particle Gives Form to the Universe

There has been a lot of hoopla surrounding of the mysterious 

. We already took a brief look at it in the introduction to this article, but 

let’s dive in a little bit deeper.

The Higgs boson, if the standard theory proves correct, is the heaviest element in 

existence (as far as we know). This cosmic “molasses” weighs down the tiny 

particles that make up atoms, giving them substance. Without the Higgs boson, the 

universe would most likely be a kind of cosmic “soup” where particles zip around, 

absent any substantial form. The discovery of the Higgs boson particle is to physics 

what Darwin’s theory of evolution was to biology. That means it’s a very big deal.

8) The Biggest Mountain in Our Solar System Is on Mars

Thinkstock

 Nice try, jerk.

Sorry Mount Everest — you’re not the king of the solar system. That honor belongsto 

Olympus Mons, a massive mountain on our planetary neighbor, Mars. 

is a giant mound of red dirt and rock. This volcanic behemoth is 2,400 meters, 

or 80,000 feet tall, which makes it almost 15 miles high. Everest is a mere dwarf in 

comparison. This giant Martian volcano is either a mountain climber’s wildest dream, 

or worst nightmare.

9) Our Galaxy Is on a Collision Course with the Andromeda Galaxy

The Milky Way Galaxy, which is to say our very own galaxy, is on a

with our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. Even though these two 

conglomerations of stars are destined to smash together, you shouldn’t lose any 

sleep over the incident. The impending impact won’t happen for another 3 billion 

years. The chances of you being around for that galactic “fender bender” are pretty 

slim, unless you’re planning to cryogenically freeze yourself or something.

10) The Earth Is Billions of Years Old

Our planet has been around for quite some time. It’s been around, in fact, for 

, give or take 0.02 billion years. Life has only been on the planet for 

a short amount of time, but the variety of life that has crawled, slithered, swam and 

trod upon the planet is pretty spectacular — from single celled organisms, to giant 

sharks and snakes, to dinosaurs, to mammals. If that comet coming in 2029 (and 

again, in 2036) misses the planet, hopefully we’ll thrive here for a long time to come.

Some interesting images of space and galaxi

Some interesting videos!!!!

Videos on space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

here are some interesting videos on space and galaxy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some Top 10 Biggest Things In The Universe

Top 10 Biggest Things In The Universe

Standing next to the pyramids, one cannot help but marvel at their size. The Burj Dubai, standing over a half mile tall, is equally stunning as it rises into the clouds. Towering above them both is the monstrous, and often deadly, Mt. Everest.

Yet, compared to some of the things that exist in our universe, they are absolutely microscopic. Today, we will explore the largest things in the universe based on their relative sizes.

 Largest Asteroid

Ceres is the largest asteroid we’ve discovered so far. It contains 1/3rd the mass of the entire asteroid belt and is almost 600 miles in diameter. It’s about the size of California and is massive enough that its own gravity forces it into a spherical shape. It’s so large that it also has earned the title of ‘Dwarf Planet’. It’s the only object in the asteroid belt big enough to earn the designation.

1. The Cosmic Web

Most astronomers agree that the biggest thing in the universe is the cosmic web. It’s an endless scaffolding of galaxy clusters surrounded by dark matter and resembles a three dimensional spiderweb. Clusters of galaxies and dark matter make up “hubs” and filaments of galaxies connect these hubs producing a web like appearance. (see side picture)

How big is the web? If the Milky Way galaxy was a poppy seed, then the cosmic web of the observable universe would be the size of the Rose Bowl stadium.

2. The Huge-LQG

Discovered in January of 2013, the Huge-LGQ (Huge Large Quasar Group) is said to be the largest structure in the universe. The Huge-LQG is a collection of 73 confirmed quasars (a quasar is a very energetic galaxy). Astronomers discovered that the group of gravitationally bound quasars is so large that it would take over 4 billion years to traverse from end to end – while traveling at light speed.

It’s so big, that its very existence puts it at odds with Einstein’s Cosmological Principle. The cosmological principle says that, when looking at the universe from a large enough scale, it should look the exact same no matter where you are observing from, or where you look. The Huge-LGQ throws a wrench into that assumption. Researchers are understandably fascinated by the discovery and are eager to continue their investigations.

3. Shapley Super Cluster

The Shapley supercluster is a collection of galaxies some 400+ million light years long. Our own Milky Way galaxy is roughly 4,000 times smaller. The supercluster is so big, that our fastest spacecraft would spend trillions of years trying to cross it.

It is the most massive gravitationally bound object that we currently know of. Being gravitationally bound means that as the universe continues to expand, the gravity between the galaxies in this cluster are strong enough overcome that expansion, keeping them together forever.

4. The Boötes Void

Galaxies usually reside in clusters. Even our own Milky Way does. These clusters are lightly gravitationally bound and expanding along with space/time itself in groups.

But what about the areas where they don’t reside? Enter the Boötes Void. This region of ‘nothingness’ is a whopping 250 million light years across. That’s 2,500 milky way galaxies placed side by side. Voids are like holes in our universe, and the Boötes Void is the largest.

5. Lyman Alpha Blobs

These blobs are a very short lived phase of the birth of galaxy clusters. They are amorphous objects filled with gas that haven’t fully coalesced and are not bound or set gravitationally yet. As these blobs age, they will condense and eventually form giant collections of galaxies.

Lyman Alpha blobs resemble amoebas or jellyfish in shape. The largest one that we have spotted is 200 million light years wide and is located in the constellation Aquarius.

6. Radio Lobes

Radio lobes are powered by the accretion disk of supermassive black holes. These supermassive black holes can be found at the center of most galaxies. As material gets consumed by a black hole, some energy and matter is flung away at high speeds which occur at the poles of black holes.

These emissions are in the form of radio energy jets which can be seen with a radio telescope. The largest is located in the galaxy is 3C236 which is located in the constellation Leo Minor. Its jets span 40 million light years across. The jets from end to end are by far larger than any galaxy.

7. Largest Galaxy

A super galaxy is a galaxy that has merged with many others and they sit in the middle of galaxy clusters. The largest that we’ve discovered so far is the IC1101 super galaxy. It is 6 million light years across. Compare that to the Milky Way which is a mere 100 thousand light years across. IC1101 is a staggering 60 times larger than our own.

8. Largest Black Hole

Black holes are not physically large regions of space. But when you include their mass, they are among the top competitors for the largest things in the universe. And quasar OJ287 is the largest black hole we’ve spotted. It’s estimated to be 18 billion times the mass of our sun and is a supermassive black hole located in the center of a galaxy. To put that in perspective, it’s an object larger than our entire solar system. Just how big can a black hole get? According to scientists, there is no theoretical upper limit.

Update: 11/28/2012 – Science never fails to keep impressing us with its newest discoveries. Researchers at the University of Texas, using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, have discovered what they claim to be the largest supermassive black hole yet. The black hole, a whopping 17 billion solar masses, resides at the center of galaxy NGC 1277. That is so huge, it accounts for 14% of the entire galaxy’s mass. The event horizon is 11x the diameter of Neptune’s orbit around our sun – that’s a radius of over 300 AU.

9. Largest Star

VY Canis Majoris is the largest star (in diameter) that we know of. It’s in a class of star known as Red Hyper Giants. It’s 1,420 times the sun’s radius and would take the world’s fastest race car 2,600 years to circle it once. If you replaced our Sun with VY Canis Majoris, its surface would extend out beyond Saturn. (see picture to the right for comparison to our own sun).

Update: In 2013, NML Cygni was verified as the largest known star. It’s a whopping 1,650 times our sun’s radius. That is so large; it would take a beam of light 6 hours and 40 minutes to circle it once.

10. Largest Planet

Located in the constellation Hercules, planet TRES4 is 70% larger than Jupiter in diameter, but has only 80% of Jupiter’s mass. Because of how close it orbits to its sun, it is thought that the intense heat expand the gasses that make up this planet, resulting in an almost ‘marshmallow-like’ density. It holds the title of the largest planet we’ve discovered so far.

Update: Science is never finished. Since this list was compiled, observations of an exoplanet called WASP-17b suggest that it is even bigger than TRES4. Despite its radius being twice that of Jupiter’s, it only has half the mass. This makes it even “fluffier” than TRES4.