20 UNIVERSE MYTHS ABUSTED

Think you know all about space? Here are 20 myths about the universe that need debunking

- Laura Mears

Our understanding of the workings of the universe is better than it has ever been, but there are still a number of misconceptions that manage to fool many of us. Some of the following might sound plausible, but barely any of it is true: the Sun is a burning orb of yellow fire and the temperature is higher during the summer months because we orbit closer than we do in winter. Mercury is the closest planet to our star and must therefore be the hottest.

The lunar phases are caused by the shadow of Earth and at night we can only see one side of the Moon, so the other must be in perpetual darkness. The stars form patterns with their close neighbours and are grouped into local constellations. The twinkling light that they produce travels to Earth in a straight line, unaffected by the pull of gravity. Comets race past with their tails pointing back towards the direction that they came from, and as meteorites tumble through the atmosphere, they heat up so much that it’s not safe to pick them up from the ground.

In space, astronauts experience zero gravity and the only human-made object they can see is the Great Wall of China. Friction on re-entry heats their spacecraft to thousands of degrees, and if the astronauts were unfortunate enough to have a collision in space, it would make an audible bang. Any astronaut exposed to the vacuum of space without a spacesuit would explode due to a pressure imbalance. Saturn is the only planet with rings, but in order to reach it you have to travel through the asteroid belt, which is so packed with rocks that it is like a minefield. And watch out for black holes, because they’ll suck you straight in.

1 BLACK HOLES SUCK