81 Otherworldly Facts About the Universe – Part 2

The 1833 Leonids meteor shower, the largest one ever recorded estimated at 240,000 "Shooting Stars" per hour (~67 every second) radiating from Leo constellation over a 9 hour period. The event had such an impact on society that it was used to date people with no birth certificate.

77. The only natural route through the Appalachians was formed by a meteor.

78. One-third of humanity (including 60% of Europeans and 80% of North Americans) live in such light polluted areas that the Milky Way is not visible at night.

79. Democritus hypothesized that the milky way was actually distant suns in ~480BC.

80. The center star of Orion's sword isn't a star, it's the Orion Nebula and is the only nebula visible from Earth with the naked eye.

The Tarantula Nebula is so luminous that if it were as close to Earth as Orion, it would cast shadows.