Space

A solar flare equals a billion hydrogen bombs.

Solar flares release energy equivalent to a billion hydrogen bombs, according to NASA. Earth's atmosphere protects us…

The Milky Way will collide with Andromeda in about 4.5 billion years.

The two galaxies approach at 110 km/s. The collision won't destroy stars, but will create a new elliptical galaxy.

The Sun is a middle-aged yellow-white star.

The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old — approximately halfway through its expected life.

Earth has two temporary natural satellites besides the Moon.

Tiny asteroids are occasionally captured by Earth's gravity and orbit it temporarily before escaping.

All other planets of the solar system fit in the space between Earth and Moon.

The average Earth-Moon distance is 384,400 km. Adding all planet diameters, the total is about 380,000 km.

The Sun will lose the ability to sustain life on Earth in about 500 million years.

As the Sun ages, it becomes brighter and hotter, making Earth uninhabitable long before it becomes a red giant.

Earth receives 430 quintillion joules from the Sun every hour.

This energy is enough to power human civilization for thousands of years — if we could capture it all.

95% of the universe is dark matter and energy.

Everything we know and see constitutes only 5% of the universe; the rest is invisible and remains a mystery.

Black holes slow down time.

According to Einstein, the immense gravity of a black hole distorts spacetime, making time pass slower near it.

Neptune has supersonic winds reaching 2,000 km/h.

Despite being the farthest planet from the Sun and receiving little sunlight, Neptune has the most violent and…

If you fell into a black hole, you would experience 'spaghettification'.

The gravity of a black hole is so intense that the pull on your feet would be much stronger than on your head…

Apollo astronauts left mirrors on the Moon to measure its distance.

These retroreflectors bounce lasers fired from Earth back to the source, allowing scientists to calculate the exact…

A day on Mars is called a 'Sol' and lasts 24 hours and 37 minutes.

Because a Martian day is slightly longer than an Earth day, scientists working on Mars rovers have to adjust their…

Uranus rotates on its side, likely due to a massive collision.

Its axis is tilted almost 98 degrees, meaning it essentially orbits the Sun like a rolling barrel, causing extreme…

Mercury has water ice at its poles despite being closest to the Sun.

Deep craters at the poles are permanently shadowed from the Sun's rays, keeping temperatures low enough for ancient…

The core of the Sun reaches temperatures of about 15 million degrees Celsius.

At these extreme temperatures and pressures, hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium, releasing the massive amounts of…

Potatoes were the first vegetable grown in space.

In 1995, NASA grew potatoes aboard the space shuttle Columbia, marking the first time a vegetable was grown in space…

Saturn's rings are relatively young, having formed only 100 to 400 million years ago.

Data from the Cassini mission suggests the rings formed long after the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, meaning early…

The coldest known natural place in the universe is the Boomerang Nebula.

Located 5,000 light-years away, its temperature is just 1 Kelvin (-272°C or -458°F), which is even colder than the…

There is an exoplanet named WASP-76b where it literally rains molten iron.

This ultra-hot gas giant is so close to its star that temperatures reach 2,400°C, vaporizing iron which then…

The Orion Nebula is a massive stellar nursery where new stars are being born, visible to the naked eye from Earth.

Located about 1,300 light-years away, this massive cloud of gas and dust is one of the most photographed and studied…

Laika, a stray dog from Moscow, was the first living creature to orbit the Earth in 1957.

Launched by the Soviet Union aboard Sputnik 2, her mission proved that a living passenger could survive the launch…

Astronauts can grow up to 5 centimeters in space.

Without Earth's gravity compressing the spine, the discs between the vertebrae expand. The effect is temporary, and…

A black hole can 'burp' after devouring a star.

Astronomers observed a black hole emitting a jet of matter years after it destroyed a star. This phenomenon is…