Space — Page 2

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…

There is a giant cloud of alcohol floating in space.

Located near the center of our galaxy (Sagittarius B2), this massive interstellar cloud contains billions of liters…

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…

Sagittarius A* is a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

Located in the Milky Way, it has a mass about 4 million times that of our Sun, and its immense gravity holds the…

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 single day on Mercury lasts longer than an entire year on Mercury.

Mercury rotates very slowly on its axis; a solar day there lasts about 176 Earth days, while it only takes 88 Earth…

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…

The Wow signal was a radio signal detected in 1977 that has never been explained.

The Wow signal was a narrow-band radio signal detected on August 15, 1977, by the Big Ear radio telescope. It lasted…

Trans-Neptunian objects can contain carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide ices.

Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope detected carbon dioxide in 56 trans-Neptunian objects and carbon…

Venus has a day longer than its year.

Venus takes about 243 Earth days to complete one rotation on its axis, but only about 225 Earth days to orbit the…

The Moon is moving away from Earth by about 3.8 centimetres per year.

The gravitational interaction between Earth and the Moon transfers angular momentum to the lunar orbit. Measurements…

Exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b is shaped like a lemon.

The exoplanet's unusual shape results from the intense gravitational pull of its host star, which distorts it. The…

Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to cross the Solar System.

Discovered in July 2025, 3I/ATLAS exhibits unusual characteristics and may originate from a planetary system older…

Exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b is shaped like a lemon and may contain diamonds inside.

The object, with the mass of Jupiter, orbits a pulsar and has an atmosphere dominated by helium and carbon, something…

A new technology allows the production of flexible, ultra-pure diamond films at scale.

The technique, developed by Chinese scientists, enables the creation of flexible diamond films with applications in…