4 Things About the Cosmos That’ll Impress a First Date
Want to impress someone?
Cosmic facts can help 🤓.
We’re heading into longer days, warmer nights, and a feeling of vacation—yay, snap—it’s summer. With hotter temperatures, we thought you were ready to get out of the house too. So, why not take one or two of these cosmic facts and wow someone new. Or an old fling, current SO, or a friend that appreciates your sense of humor.
So, here are 4 fun facts about the cosmos.
1) There’s a supermassive black hole at the heart of every galaxy
Almost every galaxy, including our Milky Way, contains a supermassive black hole (SMBH) that can be millions or billions times denser than our Sun. Our SMBH is near Sagittarius, and you can watch Andre Ghez - noble prize winner in 2020 - talk about her discovery.
No one knows why galaxies have this feature (it’s a mystery), but what most scientists can agree on is SMBHs are shedding new light on how our universe was created.
2) 96% of the universe is invisible
So, you might be wondering if we can’t see it, then does it actually exist? Yes, the universe is real, and so is the fact that we live within the 4% “lit up” part, per se.
Here’s the actual break-down of the universe:
Only about 5% of the universe is atoms
About 27% is dark matter
Dark energy accounts for about 68%
3) Happy birthday to the universe—born 13.8 billion years ago
Like most things, the universe was born. Except we’re not sure on the exact day of the week this happened (time is experienced differently throughout the universe), but we’re certain it was 13.82 billion years ago. At that moment, everything we enjoy today, like matter, energy, atoms, the cosmos, and time, exploded into existence during the Big Bang.
4) Our Milky Way is VERY unique
Our Milky Way was, for the most part, typical. That was until we discovered more than 3,500 other planets situated near host stars—like our sun. It illustrated that our galaxy is super unique because it can sustain life.
Here are some of the weirdest things about other planets:
Some are frozen on the outside
A few do not orbit, so one side bakes while the other is frozen
A small fraction move faster than comets
A handful orbit in the opposite direction
You can begin or end your date with these fun facts. Or flirt a bit and tell your date a cosmic one-liner: “The night sky is dark because all the stars are in your eyes.”