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What comes out of the back of a rocket?

The smoke that comes out of the bottom of a rocket is its "exhaust", much like the smoke and steam you see from a car's exhaust pipe on a cold day. But most of it you can't see : a huge volume of expanding hot gases. When rocket fuel "burns" (whether it is liquid hydrogen, kerosene, or solid propellant), it combines with oxygen to release incredible amounts of heat energy. The released gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other compounds) are rapidly heated and violently expand, and the only way out is through the nozzles at the base of the rocket. This thunderous rush of gases zooms out of the rocket, and according to Newton's law of action and reaction, the rocket is pushed in the other direction, which is ideally "up." It takes a lot of energy to lift a heavy rocket against gravity, and accelerate it to the high speed (40000 km/hr, or 25000 mph) that it needs to reach orbit. Once in space, however, it will continue to move without much help as it circles the Earth.


Why does the moon follow us wherever you move?

The Moon appears to follow us while driving in a car because it is almost a quarter of a million miles away. The houses and telephone poles that flit by your window are only a few dozen feet away and your car zooms past them very quickly indeed. Have you noticed that the most distant trees and farms you can see on the horizon as you motor down I-94 hardly seem to move at all? That's because they are several miles away and stay in your field of vision for many minutes. Our Earth is only about 8 000 miles in diameter and your auto trip is only a few dozens of miles on any one night. But our moon is some 240 000 miles away orbiting around us. The only way to get "past" it would be to fly off the planet in a space ship! The next time you're traveling on a moonlit night, roll up a piece of paper into a narrow tube. Watch the moon through it, staying in the same position in the car, and you'll seem to move past the moon quickly because your field of vision will be very narrow.


What is the appearance of a shooting star and how does it look as it streaks across the night sky?

Ah, what a lovely question, my friend! A shooting star appears as a bright streak of light across the night sky, sort of like a little sparkle dancing from one corner to the next. As it streaks through the darkness, it leaves behind a glowing trail, like a paintbrush stroke on a deep canvas, bringing a little bit of magic to our world. Nature truly is endlessly delightful, isn't it?


What makes Mercury unique compared to other planets in our solar system?

Mercury is unique in our solar system because it is the smallest planet and closest to the sun. It has a very thin atmosphere and extreme temperature variations, with scorching hot days and freezing cold nights. Its surface is covered in craters and has a large iron core, making it the most dense planet.