Theory Observation |
Speeds in the Universe
IN SHORT -
- no summary needed - |
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Most of the Universe is in motion. Some objects are reaching tremendous speeds, as the upper limit for any speed in the Universe is the speed of light, at 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km/s). Such high speeds however are not necessarily perceived as such by nearby dwellers or remote observers. When at the surface of the Earth we barely can imagine that we are on a sphere which is moving at 67,000 mph (108,000 km/h) around the Sun. On the other hand, this is a sign of the vastness of the cosmos
(speeds given by increasing order)
| Object, Phenomenon | Speed in mph | Speed in km/h |
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| Mercury rotating | 0.72 | 1.1 |
| Earth rotating | 320 | 500 |
| Sun rotating | 1,380 | 2,200 |
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| a Mars orbiter | 7,000 | 11,300 |
| Jupiter rotating | 9,000 | 14,400 |
| Shuttle in orbit | 17,300 | 27,800 |
| Speed needed to put a satellite in orbit | 19,000 | 30,000 |
| Saturn orbiting the Sun | 22,000 | 35,000 |
| a comet | 23,000 | 37,000 |
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| Pionner 10 (fastest planetary probe, leaving Earth) | 32,400 | 52,100 |
| Planetary probe (average en route) | 35,000 | 56,000 |
| Voyager 1 (current speed at the solar system's boundaries) | 40,250 | 64,800 |
| New Horizons (speed once accelerated by a gravity-assisted flyby at Jupiter; original speed was of 43,000 mph -69,200 km/h) | 52,000 | 83,600 |
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| Maximum speed of micrometeorites hitting Moon's surface, as they create the regolith | 62,000 | 100,000 |
| Earth orbiting the Sun | 67,000 | 108,000 |
| Geminids shooting stars | 80,000 | 126,000 |
| Pioneer 10 (after Jupiter' gravity boost) | 82,000 | 132,000 |
| Mercury orbiting the Sun | 107,000 | 170,000 |
| Orionids shooting stars | 150,000 | 238,000 |
| Speed of a next-generation, ion-thrusted, nuclear powered spacecraft like Prometheus | 200,000 | 322,000 |
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Solar system with
the Sun orbiting the Galaxy | 500,000 | 828,000 |
| Two pulsars orbiting each other at a distance of 500,000 mi (800,000 km) | 670,000 | 1,080,000 |
| 'Hypervelocity stars' shooting out of the Milky Way Galaxy as being ejected by interactions with the Milky Way's supermassive black hole | 1 million | 1.6 million |
| Two white dwarfs orbiting each other at a distance of 50,000 mi (80,000 km) | over 1 million | over 1.6 million |
| two stars orbiting at 50,000 miles (80,000 km) from each other as they create gravitational waves | over 1 million | over 1.6 million |
| A galaxy plunging into a galaxy cluster | 1.4 million | 2.3 million |
| Blue, young stars orbiting close to M31 super-massive black hole | 2.2 million | 3.5 million |
| A spiral galaxy interacted by its galaxy cluster's gravity | 2.2 million | 3.5 million |
| A neutron, or a pulsar star at the center of a supernova remnant, as tossed out by the explosion of the supernova | million | million |
| A galaxy moving inside a galaxy cluster expanding | several million | several million |
A supernova remnant
expanding | 4-6 million | 7.2-9.6 million |
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Ejected layers in a
supernova event | 22.3 million | 36 million |
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| Blobs of matter orbiting a galactic supermassive black hole | ab. 67 million | ab. 100 million |
| Jets shooting from a black hole pulling matter from a companion star | 175 million | 282 million |
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| Light | 671 million | 1.1 billion |
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