学术英语第一单元Text A原文
2015-03-18 22:07阅读：
Fun Facts About Astronomy
Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects like
stars,comets, planets and galaxies. It is derived from Greek words
astron and nomoswhich mean 'star' and 'law' respectively. It is
related with formation anddevelopment of the universe, motion of
celestial objects, evolution, physicsand chemistry.
Since the 20th century, the field of astronomy has got divided into
twobranches: observational and theoretical. Observational astronomy
emphasizes onacquiring and analyzing the data by using basic
principles of physics.Whereas,theoretical astronomy focuses on the
development of computer or analyticalmodels to explain astronomical
objects and phenomena. Both these branches complementeach other.
Fun Facts About The Sun
The sun is 4.5 billion years old and produces 383 billion trillion
kilowatts ofenergy.Sunlight takes 8 minutes to reach the earth and
is responsible for theo
cean currents and weather patterns on our planet.The earth orbits
the sun inan elliptical uneven orbit and the distance between them
varies depending onwhere the earth lies in that orbit.The sun is
only an average size for a starbut still accounts for 98% of the
total matter in our solar system.The solar windsproduced by the sun
extend to about 50AU, where AU is the distance from the earthto the
sun.The lightning in the sky is nearly 3 times hotter than the
sun.
FunFacts About The Moon
The moon is the only non-Earth object upon which a man has
walked.Dr. EugeneShoemaker's love for the moon was so much that
after his death, his ashes werescattered over the moon by the Lunar
Prospector spacecraft in 1999.The giantfootprint left on the moon
dust by astronaut Neil Armstrong is believed to bethe oldest
footprint.Every year the moon is moving away from the Earth by 3
cm.
FunFacts About Stars
There are nearly 1 x 10 ^22 stars in the universe.Some of the stars
in the skyare so far that the light from them takes millions of
years to reach us.ProximaCentauri is the closest star to our solar
system and is nearly 4 light yearsaway.Inside the nebula, when
gases and dust condense, a new object is formedwhich is known as
protostar.Depending upon how hot the white dwarf star is, itscolor
varies from blue, white, yellow or red.Supernova explosions are
capableof destroying an entire star.
Pulsar, a neutron star which was discovered in 1967 emits radio
waves.Polaris,the north star, is the only star in the sky that
doesn't appear to move fromnight to night.
FunFacts About Planets
Mercury is the second smallest planet in the solar system and has
no moon. Itcan get as hot as 800º C and cold as 300º C below zero.
One year on Mercury isequal to 88 days on earth. It is named after
the Roman God of Commerce.
Venus is the only planet that rotates from east to west. A
year onthis planet is equal to 225 days on earth. Earth is nearly
93 million milesaway from the sun. It takes about 16 million
horsepower to break the earth'sgravitational pull.According to
scientists, in around 5 billion years, a day onearth will be 48
hours long and somewhere during that time the sun
willexplode.
The planet Neptune was discovered more than150 years ago in 1846,
and sincethen it still has to complete an orbit around the sun, as
one Neptune yearequals to 165 Earth years.
Pluto does not have a fixed orbit and its orbit comes in the middle
ofNeptune's orbit. Also, Pluto's size is very small which made
scientists demotedit to a dwarf planet status.
Astronomy can be considered as an interesting science filled
withmany fun and interesting facts. Whether it's the size or
temperature of a star,the Sun, distant planets - anything and
everything once discovered is recorded.This information can be
retrieved to entertain and enlighten people.
