Recently, alien skeletons were found in Mexico. While scientists are still trying to make sense of it, it is fascinating to remind oneself that the universe is still one big mystery. Ancient Indian scientists, philosophers, astronomers, astrologers, and similar people have always found ways to explain the universe through heritage places and monuments or text/inscriptions.
The Surya Siddhanta ( ’Sun Treatise’) is a Sanskrit treatise in Indian astronomy dated to the 4th to 5th century, in fourteen chapters. The Surya Siddhanta describes rules to calculate the motions of various planets and the moon relative to various constellations, and diameters of various planets, and the orbits of various astronomical bodies. The text is known from a 15th-century CE palm-leaf manuscript and several newer manuscripts.
(Source: Wikipedia)
What does this say? Before the world said that the Earth was flat – Indians already knew that the Earth was spherical. How did they know this when they never had any modern instruments or telescopes? It is definitely one of the mysteries of ancient India.
- Bubbles in Space – Hear of Fermi Bubbles? It is said that massive yet mysterious fermi bubble emanate from the Milky Way. First discovered in 2010, they consist of super high energy gamma rays and x-ray emissions. They are invisible to the naked eye.
- Unique are we? Maybe. We also know that we are not the only one in our solar system. Astronomers say that there are sun-like stars that are accompanied by one or more planets.
- What caused Big Bang? While scientists can explain big bang they can’t ascertain for sure what caused it. Some postulate that it could be a collision of two universes. Some even say that this universe will end and another big bang will happen after thousands of years.
- What’s that rectangle in the sky? While all galaxies have been spherical, ellipses or blobs; there is a peculiar one called LEDA 074886 which looks like a rectangle or a diamond. Strange that!
- Moon has certain crust area that has magnetic field. While this has been astounding the scientists for a while, recently they have done some computational analysis to discover an asteroid that collided to the southern part of the moom left certain relics as a result of which this magnetic effect is seen.
- What matter is the Universe made of? There is no definite answer to this. While atoms and protons are talked about the intense dark and dense matter still can’t be explained by the scientists.
While these mysteries of the universe are ever changing and ever increasing, science and technology is slowly trying to filter out the exact reasons and answers. So while the kids grow up, newer results will be found out. Here are some books which can help children get some sort of explanation of the mysteries of the universe. There are some sci-fic books too.
- Unlocking the Universe by Stephen Hawking
- A Small Guide to the Universe by Ella Francis Sanders
- Mystery of the Night Watchers by A.M. Howell
- The mysteries of the Universe by D.K. Publishers
- An illustrated tour of the night sky – What we see in the stars
- Encyclopedia of Space
- Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry by Neil Degrasse Tyson
- We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly
- Mysteries of the Universe by Peter Altman
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle
