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Do thoughts about an endless sky above start bothering you minutes before you should fall asleep? Black holes make you unexplainably anxious? Are extraterrestrials real? As vast and unexplored as space is, there sure are plenty of cool scientific facts to put your mind at rest. And, to save you (and ourselves) from another sleepless night spent wondering about the miracles (or science) of the universe, we've rounded up some of the most important space facts in this fun little article.
From the length of the day on various planets in our solar system to diamond showers and the actual size of heavenly bodies compared to a unit of measurement we all understand - football stadiums - all the basics are covered in our facts about space. After the groundwork comes the more complex questions about gaseous compositions, thermodynamics, and such - no stone unturned in these cool facts about space! And, the further we dig into the core topics of our universe, the more at ease you'll probably start to feel. At least we do desperately hope that these fun facts about space will soothe you and calm you instead of scrambling your thoughts on black holes even further.
Now, jump into your moon boots, and let's explore the universe of cool space facts together! Although presumably, they should be somewhere higher up, the interesting facts are instead a bit further down. Once you are there, rank the bits of info by their unexpectedness and share this article with your friends!
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#2
When you look at a star, what you actually see is how it was in the past.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
This is why light years feel kind of confusing. It's both a measurement of time and distance depending how you look at it.
#3
Any free-moving liquid in outer space will form itself into a sphere.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
Free moving as in not being (majorly) attracted to other objects in this case. For earth and all the other rocky planets that was when they were still hot, liquid and condensing out of the material shroud the sun once had.
Load More Replies... #4
The sunset on Mars appears blue.
#5
Saturn would float in water.
harpling 3 years ago
I remember seeing an illustration of this in The Magic School Bus when I was a kid, Saturn floating in a huge bathtub, scrubbing itself with a loofah.
setsuriseikou 3 years ago
Were the rings on or did it take them off before bathing?
Load More Replies... #6
A large percentage of asteroids are pulled in by Jupiter’s gravity and it protects us from cosmic impacts.
#7
There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. That’s at least a billion trillion!
#9
We know more about Mars and our Moon than we do about our oceans.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
"Nasa knows. Nasa fears. Nasa's urge to get as far away from the ocean gets ever stronger."
#10
Scientists have found a void in space 1 billion miles wide that could be a parallel universe.
Diana Cannava 3 years ago
that is true but this is noted to be one of the largest voids - (to date, discovered)
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Headless Roach 3 years ago
Sounds like description of my head. Big void with a parrallel universe.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
Boothes void? It's scary looking. It feels as if something is snuffing out stars, maybe encasing them in Dyson spheres? I hope its not expanding.
Marek Čtrnáct 3 years ago
We'd probably notice that. Gravity and thermal radiation would still be there.
Load More Replies... #11
Saturn has a huge extra ring that was only discovered in 2009.
#12
An asteroid about the size of a car enters Earth’s atmosphere roughly once a year – but it burns up before it reaches us.
#13
Space is not completely empty, but there are only about ten atoms per cubic meter of space.
#14
If you were to stand on the surface of Mars on the equator at noon, it would feel like spring at your feet (75°F or 24°C) and winter at your head (32°F or 0 °C).
setsuriseikou 3 years ago
Ok, so the shoes and the hat are sorted out, but is it a T-shirt or a jacket in between?
Thegoodboi 3 years ago
If you're cold, lay down. If you're hot, jump in the air. Seems bearable let's go
Yeah, okay. 3 years ago
Except for that pesky "breathing" problem. What the hell, we'll figure it out.
Load More Replies... #16
Dung beetles can use the Milky Way for orientation.
Got Banned But Now I'm Back 3 years ago
This made no sense to me, so I looked it up. What the heck, dung beetles? Amazing stuff.
#17
One million Earths could fit inside the Sun – and the Sun is considered an average-size star.
#18
Comets are leftovers from the creation of our solar system about 4.5 billion years ago – they consist of sand, ice and carbon dioxide.
#19
There is a planet made of diamonds.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
But it's gravity and pressure needed to be so high for that to happen there is no way to get at any without being destroyed.
#21
The Apollo astronauts' footprints on the Moon could last up to 100 million years.
#22
The moons of Uranus were named after characters created by Alexander Pope and William Shakespeare.
#23
Mercury is still shrinking.
Nenyone_yay 3 years ago
If it's cold, the mercury falls to the bottom of the thermometer 😆
Load More Replies... #24
Pluto is smaller than the United States.
#25
For years it was believed that Earth was the only planet in our solar system with liquid water. More recently, NASA revealed its strongest evidence yet that there is intermittent running water on Mars, too!
David Phillips 3 years ago
"Intermittent running water"? So Mars is in fact a cheap apartment in a run-down neighbourhood.
Lisa H 3 years ago
Hey, if Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk want to move to the Martian Projects, who are we to stop them?
Load More Replies... #26
A day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days. A year on Venus lasts 225 Earth days.
Jillian Harris 3 years ago
So it takes Venus 243 earth days to rotate one time. But it takes Venus 225 earth days to rotate once around the sun. Not gonna lie. I was confused at first lol
Alexandria Z 3 years ago
Glad I don't live on those planets. My work day is to long as it is *sigh.
#27
The International Space Station (ISS) is the size of a football field.
Thegoodboi 3 years ago
Bahaha now now, which football field? American football? Or rest of the world football?
Beck 3 years ago
American. Because the rest if the world use actual measurements.
Load More Replies... #28
It is possible to see the International Space Station from your backyard.
setsuriseikou 3 years ago
Hey, how do you know that? I'm pretty sure I've never invited you to my backyard!
Mad McQueen 3 years ago
I can see it from my house. It's more of a triangle than a dot like a star. In Florida it's even clearer.
#30
There may be a huge planet at the edge of the Solar System nicknamed "Planet Nine".
#31
Gamma-ray bursts can release more energy in 10 seconds than our Sun will in its entire 10 billion-year lifetime.
#32
The radio signal that a spacecraft uses to contact Earth has no more power than a refrigerator light bulb.
#33
The first-ever black hole photographed is 3 million times the size of Earth.
#34
Coca-Cola was the first commercial soft drink that was ever consumed in space.
#36
The first living mammal to go into space was a dog named “Laika” from Russia.
setsuriseikou 3 years ago
Alas, she didn't make it back alive, dying from overheating some hours into the flight.
#37
The word “astronaut” means “star sailor” in its origins.
Swingstoon 3 years ago
And also the word cosmonaut means " Universe sailor" I read that fact in a book
#38
If you drilled a tunnel through Earth and jumped in, you would reach the other side in 42 minutes and 12 seconds.
Thegoodboi 3 years ago (edited)
One more for the anxiety list...So would you pop out the other side and land safely on the edge? Or would gravity pull you back through and your stuck in a theoretical free fall forever? Asking for a friend..
Marek Čtrnáct 3 years ago
Well, you would reach the other side as a crisp, so it wouldn't really matter.
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Oerff On Tour 3 years ago
Strange enough, that works under every angle you dig. London to Sidney takes just as long as London to New York
#39
The center of the Milky Way galaxy has tens of thousands of black holes.
David Phillips 3 years ago
...which will eventually consume the entire galaxy. Just something to look forward to.
#43
Voyager 1 and 2 have been operating for more than 40 years.
#44
There is a planet in our galaxy where the daytime temperature is nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it possibly rains glass horizontally.
#45
An estimated price of the spacesuit made in 1974 is between $15 and $22 million per unit.
#47
If two pieces of the same type of metal touch in space they will permanently bond.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
Vacuum welding is quote a headache when designing satellites and space stations/ships. Gotta be careful not to make moving bits out of the same stuff.
#48
Saturn's moon Titan has lakes, too. The liquid in Titan's lakes isn't water - it's a substance called methane.
#49
The Moon is lemon-shaped.
Thegoodboi 3 years ago
I supposed the moon was there first sooo. I would say yes to your question.
Load More Replies... Alexandria Z 3 years ago
Soooo, I can make lemonade with the moon and sell it to space travelers ?
#50
The Sun loses a billion kilos per second.
#51
The Sun makes a full rotation once every 25 – 35 days.
setsuriseikou 3 years ago
Oh, so it rotates, just like the planets? Have never thought about it.
#53
There are more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way.
#54
All planets in the solar system have been visited by uncrewed spacecraft.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
Kind of depends on how you define visited, but we did fly relatively close to them at least.
#55
Planets can wander through space without a parent star.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
Rogue planets. Theories go that at least one of our orbitals is a captured rogue one and maybe another crashed into early earth with part of it and earth eventually becoming the moon.
#56
Because of its unique tilt, a season on Uranus is equivalent to 21 Earth years.
#57
In 2016, scientists detected a radio signal from a source 5 billion light-years away.
#58
Astronauts can’t burp in space.
Aww but Eww 3 years ago
What? How? Why? What happens if they do? Do they explode? I need more info!
#59
There’s a gas cloud in the constellation of Aquila that holds enough alcohol to make 400 trillion trillion pints of beer.
#61
You wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they have no solid surface!
Maik 3 years ago
Nope. Most people believe all planets are solid bodies. Knowledge is still a privilege.
Load More Replies... #62
If you could fly a plane to Pluto, the trip would take more than 800 years.
#63
Uranus orbits the Sun on its side.
#64
Enceladus, Saturn’s Moon, is the most reflective body in the solar system.
#65
Jupiter's moon Io has towering volcanic eruptions.
#67
Saturn has a hexagonal-shaped storm.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
With little hexagonal storms at each of its points. Looks like an alien array from a movie.
#68
One teaspoonful of neutron star would weigh the same as the Mount Everest.
XenoMurph 3 years ago
I always wondered about the attraction of Donald Trump, turns out it's gravity.
Load More Replies... #69
The Moon is getting farther away every year.
setsuriseikou 3 years ago
So loving to the Moon and back also means that the feeling is only getting deeper?
#70
Outer Space is only 62 vertical miles (100 km) away.
#72
Stars twinkle because of the way light is disrupted as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere.
#73
Asteroids are the byproducts of formations in the solar system, more than 4 billion years ago.
#75
Mercury has no atmosphere, which means there is no wind or weather.
#77
Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story has actually been to outer space!
#78
There are rogue planets that have been knocked out of orbit just chilling out in the universe, and they could do the same to another planet.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
Giants like Jupiter can swallow them or even brake and bend their trajectory so much they can settle as a moon or planet.
#79
Saturn's rings sort of vanish every now and then.
#80
If you fell into a black hole, you'd get stretched out like spaghetti.
#81
The dead skin of your feet peels off in Space.
#82
VY Canis Majoris is the biggest star in the universe - about 2000 times the diameter of our Sun.
#83
Space junk is any human-made object orbiting Earth that no longer serves a useful purpose. Scientists estimate there are about 500,000 pieces of space junk today, including fragments from rockets and satellites, and everyday items like spanners dropped during construction of the International Space Station.
#86
You would last about 15 seconds in space without a spacesuit.
harpling 3 years ago
Better hope there's spaceship with an Infinite Improbability Drive somewhere in the vicinity.
Thegoodboi 3 years ago
It'd probably a painful as hell 15 seconds. Water gets ripped out of your body, blood boils..I think there's more..
setsuriseikou 3 years ago
That's okay with me. Not like I'd really enjoy the experience anyway.
#90
The gas giant Jupiter is a failed star.
#93
The solar atmosphere is 300 times hotter than the Sun's surface - up to more than a million degrees.
#94
Clouds at the center of the Milky Way smell of rum, taste of raspberries and are packed with booze.
#96
Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system.
#98
A day in Mars is only 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.
Headless Roach 3 years ago
You say “only”, I say “an amazing 40 minutes of extra sleep”. We are not the same.
Oerff On Tour 3 years ago
But it's gonna screw up the biological clock of the first people on Mars. Permanent jetlag
#99
In our solar system that are 4 planets known as gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
#100
Neptune’s moon, Triton, orbits the planet backwards.
Virgil Blue 3 years ago
There are suggestions thst because its orbit is inverted it may have been lost by its original planet (maybe Jupiter) and was captured by Neptune's gravity iirc.
#103
Usain Bolt's speed would actually allow him to fly like a bird on one of Saturn’s moons while wearing a wingsuit.
#106
The highest mountain known to man is on an asteroid called Vesta. Measuring a whopping 22km in height, it is three times as tall as Mount Everest!
#107
Space is completely silent, because there is no air in space – it is a vacuum.
#108
In the darkest parts of space, temperatures can reach -454°F. But if you're orbiting near Earth in the sunlight, space is a toasty 250°F.
#109
Space is vacuum but it's an imperfect vacuum because it contains a low density of particles like clouds of interstellar dust, space plasma, and cosmic rays.
#110
There are probably more than 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1 septillion) stars in the universe.
#111
The Moon was once a piece of the Earth.
Got Banned But Now I'm Back 3 years ago (edited)
THEORIES: The Fission Theory: This theory proposes that the Moon was once part of the Earth and somehow separated from the Earth early in the history of the solar system. The present Pacific Ocean basin is the most popular site for the part of the Earth from which the Moon came. This theory was thought possible since the Moon's composition resembles that of the Earth's mantle and a rapidly spinning Earth could have cast off the Moon from its outer layers. However, the present-day Earth-Moon system should contain "fossil evidence" of this rapid spin and it does not. Also, this hypothesis does not have a natural explanation for the extra baking the lunar material has received. The Capture Theory: This theory proposes that the Moon was formed somewhere else in the solar system, and was later captured by the gravitational field of the Earth. The Moon's different chemical composition could be explained if it formed elsewhere in the solar system, however, capture into the Moon's present orbit is very improbable. Something would have to slow it down by just the right amount at just the right time, and scientists are reluctant to believe in such "fine tuning". Also, this hypothesis does not have a natural explanation for the extra baking the lunar material has received. The Condensation Theory: This theory proposes that the Moon and the Earth condensed individually from the nebula that formed the solar system, with the Moon formed in orbit around the Earth. However, if the Moon formed in the vicinity of the Earth it should have nearly the same composition. Specifically, it should possess a significant iron core, and it does not. Also, this hypothesis does not have a natural explanation for the extra baking the lunar material has received.
Got Banned But Now I'm Back 3 years ago
But this is the most accepted theory: The Giant Impactor Theory (sometimes called The Ejected Ring Theory): This theory proposes that a planetesimal (or small planet) the size of Mars struck the Earth just after the formation of the solar system, ejecting large volumes of heated material from the outer layers of both objects. A disk of orbiting material was formed, and this matter eventually stuck together to form the Moon in orbit around the Earth. This theory can explain why the Moon is made mostly of rock and how the rock was excessively heated. Furthermore, we see evidence in many places in the solar system that such collisions were common late in the formative stages of the solar system. This theory is discussed further below.
Load More Replies...
Kathryn Burnett 3 years ago
Holy s**t we just got hit with another ball of flaming rocks. And it kind of made a mess, which is now the moon.
#114
The Sun will engulf Earth 5 billion years from now.
#119
We often see astronauts in white spacesuits, but there are orange spacesuits too - it stands out against the ocean or the sky.
#121
If your spacesuit started leaking, you could survive for a couple of minutes.
#122
Black holes have theoretical opposites known as white holes.
Linus Bourque 3 years ago
This one intrigued me enough to look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hole
#127
Valles Marineris is not just the largest canyon on Mars, but at 4000 km long, 200 km wide and 10 km deep it is the largest in the entire Solar System.
#132
Uranus was originally called "Georgium Sidus" or “George’s Star”.
Steve Robert 3 years ago
Because of students snickering at its name, scientists have changed the name Uranus to Urectum
#133
In China, the Milky Way is known as the “Silver River”
#135
Falling space junk has a 10% chance of killing someone in the next decade.
#136
The biggest black hole is Monster Black Hole.
MedusaWasBeautiful 3 years ago
.....Not so. Ton 618 is the is the most massive black hole yet to be found.
#137
Launching things into space is wildly expensive.
#138
There are five officially recognized dwarf planets in the solar system.
#146
The universe is observed to be 13.8 billion years old and has been expanding since its formation in the Big Bang.
#152
The first artificial satellite in space was called “Sputnik".
What do you think ?
MedusaWasBeautiful 3 years ago
No explanation is given for quite a few of these and the information is questionable.
Got Banned But Now I'm Back 3 years ago
Agreed. I liked that you called out some of the things I questioned, too. I did look up a couple and was surprised. the dung beetle thing? Like how do they KNOW the tiny buggies are looking at THAT? Why not just the stars? Or their inner navigation systems? But there IS a study. Whether it's true or not... I dunno.
Load More Replies... MedusaWasBeautiful 3 years ago
No explanation is given for quite a few of these and the information is questionable.
Got Banned But Now I'm Back 3 years ago
Agreed. I liked that you called out some of the things I questioned, too. I did look up a couple and was surprised. the dung beetle thing? Like how do they KNOW the tiny buggies are looking at THAT? Why not just the stars? Or their inner navigation systems? But there IS a study. Whether it's true or not... I dunno.
Load More Replies...
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