Space — Page 5
Mysteries of the universe
190 facts
Jupiter s Great Red Spot is a storm larger than Earth.
The Great Red Spot is an anticyclonic storm on Jupiter, larger than Earth, that has lasted for at least 350 years. In…
The planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets.
Planetary nebulae are clouds of gas and dust ejected by dying stars. The name arose in the 18th century when…
Space smells like seared steak and hot metal.
Astronauts returning from spacewalks report that space smells like seared steak, hot metal and welding fumes. The…
The Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth.
Measurements using reflector lasers left by the Apollo missions show that the Moon moves away by about 3.8…
The exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b is shaped like a lemon because it orbits a normal star.
The exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b, with a mass similar to Jupiter s, orbits a pulsar at an extremely short distance…
The interstellar comet 3I/Atlas releases more than five tonnes of water vapour per second.
Comet 3I/Atlas, the third known interstellar object to cross the Solar System, was observed releasing water vapour at…
A supermassive black hole was expelled from its galaxy and is creating stars along its path.
The James Webb telescope observed a runaway supermassive black hole, expelled from its galaxy, travelling through…
Footprints left on the Moon will remain there for millions of years.
Due to the absence of atmosphere, wind, or water on the Moon, there is no erosion to erase the astronauts' marks…
Saturn would float in water if there were a bathtub large enough.
Despite its gigantic size, Saturn is the only planet in the solar system with an average density lower than that of…
Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, despite Mercury being closer to the Sun, due to its dense greenhouse atmosphere.
Venus's thick carbon dioxide atmosphere traps heat extremely efficiently, raising surface temperatures to about four…
There are more trees on Earth, over three trillion, than there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy, estimated between one hundred and four hundred billion.
Recent estimates of global forest inventories indicate a number of trees that vastly exceeds astronomical estimates…
A sunset on Mars appears blue to the human eye because fine dust in the Martian atmosphere scatters red light and allows blue light to penetrate more directly.
Unlike Earth, where the atmosphere scatters blue light during the day, dust particles on Mars scatter red light…
Astronauts on the International Space Station witness sixteen sunsets and sixteen sunrises every day.
The station orbits Earth at about twenty-eight thousand kilometers per hour, completing one lap around the planet…
Jupiter does not have a defined solid surface, being composed mainly of hydrogen and helium in gaseous and liquid states.
As one descends into Jupiter's atmosphere, the pressure increases until the gases are compressed into a dense…
Uranus rotates practically on its side relative to its orbit, with an axial tilt of about ninety-eight degrees.
It is believed that a collision with an Earth-sized object in the distant past caused the planet to tip over on its…
The Sun contains more than ninety-nine point eight percent of all the mass in our solar system.
Jupiter and Saturn contain most of the remaining mass, while all other planets, moons, and asteroids make up a…
A year on Mercury lasts only eighty-eight Earth days.
Being the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury completes its orbit at an extraordinary speed, resulting in the shortest…
One million Earths could fit inside the volume of the Sun.
The Sun is a medium-sized star, but its scale is so vast that its volume could contain approximately one million…
The planet 55 Cancri e is believed to be largely composed of diamond.
Orbiting very close to its star, this super-Earth exoplanet has such high pressure and temperature that the carbon…
Neutron stars can spin at incredibly high speeds, up to six hundred times per second.
These ultra-dense stellar remnants conserve the angular momentum of the original star, and as they collapse, their…
The rings of Saturn are made primarily of ice particles, rocky debris, and dust.
These rings extend for hundreds of thousands of kilometers but are incredibly thin, being only about ten meters thick…
One million Earths fit in the Sun.
The Sun's volume is so vast it could contain 1.3 million Earths.
The Sun accounts for 99.86% of the total mass in the entire solar system.
This mass dominance means that the Sun's gravity is the force that keeps all planets, asteroids, and comets in orbit…
The footprints left on the Moon by Apollo astronauts could last for millions of years.
The Moon lacks a significant atmosphere, wind, or liquid water, meaning there are no natural erosion processes to…