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Horizons Beyond – Blog for People Curious for Space
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Should Humanity Ever Leave for the Stars — Knowing We’ll Never Return?
Humanity was never meant to stay under one sky forever. Even if some journeys have no return – only discovery. The idea of one-way journeys to other stars has always sparked debate.Those for it speak of discovery, progress, and inspiration. Those against it point to our limits — the lack of technology, enormous costs, and…
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Two Suns, One Sky: How Binary Systems Work
To live under two suns is to live in a world of eternal dawns. When you look up at the night sky, many of the “single” stars you see are not alone at all. They are binary stars — two stars that orbit each other. Most of the time, they look like one bright point…
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Can We Create Air from Scratch?
Where there is no sky, humanity dreams of building one. This process is called terraforming — the modification of a planet, moon, or other celestial body to make its atmosphere, temperature, and ecological conditions suitable for Earth-like life. Everything depends on the planet (or other body) you want to terraform. The Moon, for example, has…
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What Would the Universe Look Like Without Time?
If nothing can change, even eternity becomes meaningless. The speed of light — the ultimate speed limit of the cosmos — is not arbitrary. It’s defined by two fundamental properties of the vacuum itself: magnetic permeability and electric permittivity, as described in Maxwell’s equations. Light, being massless, moves through empty space as fast as these…
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Resort Planet: Where Could We Escape from Earth?
Earth is the Cradle of Mankind, but one does not live in the cradle forever. On Earth, there are places where it’s almost eternal summer — the Mediterranean, Hawaii, the Canary Islands. But could an entire planet enjoy such perfect weather — no winters, no frosts, just warmth and balance all year long? In theory…
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Floating Islands of Venus — Soviet Dreams to NASA Concepts
The first city in the clouds will not be built by dreamers alone – but it will begin with a dream. More than three centuries ago, English writer Jonathan Swift imagined flying cities in Gulliver’s Travels.Almost 300 years later, in September 1971, the Soviet magazine Tekhnika Molodezhi (“Technology for the Youth”) featured a striking vision…
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Albedo — The Measure of Planetary Brightness
Some planets rain diamonds, others hide in shadows – albedo decides who tells the story first. When we look up at the night sky, planets often appear as bright jewels scattered among the stars.But have you ever wondered why some worlds shine more than others?The answer lies in a property called albedo — a measure…
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Unique and Fascinating Facts About the Planets of the Solar System — Part 2
The Solar System is a laboratory of extremes – where gravity sculpts chaos into harmony. Jupiter is often called a “failed star.” This is because its composition is almost identical to that of our Sun — mostly hydrogen and helium — but it simply doesn’t have enough mass.If Jupiter were about 80 times more massive,…
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Which Planets Can You See With the Naked Eye — and How to Find Them
Five worlds are watching us tonight — and you can see them all with your own eyes. Look up. The Solar System is closer than you think. Tonight, you can see five planets in the sky without any telescope: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and — if you’re lucky — Mercury.They can all be spotted with…
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Earth’s Magnetic Field Reversal: North Becomes South
Earth’s magnetic poles have never stood still – and one day, they will trade places again Throughout Earth’s history, the planet’s magnetic north and south poles have repeatedly swapped places. The north magnetic pole, the point to which a compass needle points, is constantly shifting — meaning that any coordinates we assign to it are…
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The Loudest Sound In The Universe: 57 Octaves Below Human Hearing
The loudest sound in the Universe lies forever beyond human hearing Sound levels are measured in decibels on a logarithmic scale, meaning every 10 dB increase corresponds to a tenfold increase in intensity. At 300 decibels, a sound is not just deafening—it can be lethal. Such an extreme level generates shock waves capable of destroying…
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Unique and Fascinating Facts About the Planets of the Solar System – Part 1
From the smallest to the largest, each planet has its own story to tell – an endless source of wonder. Mercury – The first planet from the Sun, Mercury remains one of the least explored planets due to the immense challenges and high costs involved in its study. However, humanity continues to slowly uncover new…
Horizons beyond 