Why Did We Name it “Space”?

When I was a boy I believed space was completely empty.

There were 9 planets (#alwaysPluto!), the sun, and some asteroids. On rare occasions, some random comet might be hurtling by. Beyond our solar system, other solar systems existed but these followed the same basic rules as ours. And way out there other galaxies contained solar systems that also followed these rules.

As I grew older and learned about black holes, nebulae, and other anomalies my imagination expanded, but the understanding was always that in between all of these objects was absolutely nothing…or space.

I’ve since learned this isn’t really true. Reading through articles like this one, we now believe there are many things within the “space” that make it less…well…spacey.

So what exactly fills up the space between planets and stars? There is something called the interstellar medium, which basically contains hydrogen and little bit of dust. While the density of these are vastly less than what we experience down here on Earth, the fact that it exists across such large distances means the total volume is enormous.

There is more out there than even this as our studies advance. Something called neutrinos are believed to exist and actually may be responsible for our existence, preventing matter and anti-matter from wiping themselves out, but perhaps I’ll dig deeper into that in a future article.

For now, enjoy the facts that there is much to be seen in space, and so much more to learn to understand it all.

What are your thoughts on what exists within space? Please comment below.