What Is Outer Space Made Of

Stars like our sun churn out flecks of dust as they age spawning new generations of stars and their orbiting planets.

What is outer space made of. Cosmic dust is made of various elements such as carbon oxygen iron and other atoms heavier than hydrogen and helium. Space is commonly called a vacuum because there s no pressure to keep objects intact. Meteors may be made mostly of rock metal or a combination of the two.

From the perspective of an earthling outer space is a zone that occurs about 100 kilometers 60 miles above the planet where there is no appreciable air to breathe or to scatter light. Sound waves cannot travel through a vacuum. Outer space or simply space is the expanse that exists beyond earth and between celestial bodies.

Outer space is not completely empty it is a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium as well as electromagnetic radiation magnetic fields neutrinos dust and cosmic rays. Ionic hydrogen is formed when a nearby hot bright star splits or ionises a hydrogen atom into protons and electrons. Outer space is made of nothing which is why it s called space.

Outer space or space which lies beyond the kárman line assumed line at 100 km altitude from surface of earth is mostly empty space or vacuum. But watch the video and see what we know about it. Well it depends on what type of hydrogen it is.

Atomic hydrogen is created in parts of the universe that are cold enough to allow protons and electrons to recombine. Depending on the region of space you are in this density may change e g in nebulae. It s not completely empty average density of matter is 10 atoms in one cubic meter of space.

It is the stuff of which planets and people are made and it is essential for star formation. Scientists estimate that about 48 5 tons 44 000 kilograms of meteoritic material falls on earth each day. Outer space begins about 100 km above the earth where the shell of air around our planet disappears.