60 Interesting, Fascinating, and Weird Facts About Space

Space is the final frontier that we are still yet to fully comprehend. Scientists and astronauts have managed to map our solar system and the planets within it, but beyond that nobody really knows what lies in the far reaches of the universe. Astronomers have managed to discover more than 3,200 other stars with planets orbiting them in our galaxy, but we still don’t know much about them, or if there are more we are yet to find. What we do know makes for some pretty interesting and weird facts about space.

Did you know that Jupiter has volcanic eruptions or that the sun’s mass takes up a whopping 99.86% of the solar system? These are just some of the fascinating facts about space you will learn below. So read on and discover more about black holes, asteroids, dwarf planets, and everything that makes up our solar system.

60 Interesting, Fascinating, and Weird Facts About Space

1. Our solar system is 4.571 billion years old.

NASA believes in around 5 billion years the sun will expand and become a Red Giant. Then 2.5 billion years later it will be so big it will engulf Earth and bring life as we know it to an end. 

2. Space is completely silent.

As there is no atmosphere in space, there is no way for sound to travel or be heard. 

3. Mercury and Venus are the only two planets without moons.

According to NASA, there are 248 moons in our solar system. Another 462 moons have been documented beyond Neptune. 

4. The Sun can fit one million Earths inside it. 

Approximately 1.3 million Earths can fit inside the Sun.

5. If a star passes too close to a black hole, it can be torn apart.

The moral of the story is stay away from black holes.  

6. Neptune’s moon, Triton, orbits the planet backwards.

It’s the only large moon in our solar system that does this.

7. There are more trees on Earth than stars in The Milky Way.

A study found there are around 3 trillion trees on the Earth, as opposed to 100-400 billion stars in The Milky Way. 

8. One of Saturn’s moons reflects 90% of the Sun’s light.

The moon, known as Enceladus, has an icy surface that reflects sunlight instead of absorbing it. Temperatures on the moon reach as low as -394° Fahrenheit. 

9. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system.

The planet has an average surface temperature of around 842 Fahrenheit. While you might think Mercury would be the hottest, considering its close proximity to the sun, the planet has no atmosphere. As the atmosphere is used to regulate weather conditions, they can change dramatically, meaning Mercury’s average temperature is much lower. 

10. Sunsets on Mars appear blue.

NASA scientists believe dust from the planet’s surface creates a blue tinge when the sun is setting. 

11. Jupiter has the most moons.

The gas planet is orbited by 92 moons. Saturn has 83, Uranus 27, and Nepture 14. 

12. Mars is called the Red Planet because of its red coloring.

The red comes from the large amount of iron oxide on the planet’s surface. 

13. A NASA space suit cost around $12 billion.

70% of the cost of the suit is for the backpack and control module.

14. You can’t directly see black holes.

They are called black holes for a reason. Due to their dark color, they are almost impossible to spot, but analyzing the surrounding environment of a black hole enables scientists to plot their locations. 

15. Pluto is no longer a planet. 

Well, that’s not exactly true. Pluto isn’t recognized as part of the solar system as it has been reclassified as a dwarf planet because it doesn’t match up to the size of the rest of the planets. 

16. The International Space Station is a partnership between five space agencies from 15 countries.

It has been operational since the year 2000 and always consists of a crew of seven people working and living in space. 

17.  The Sun accounts for 99.86% of the mass in our solar system.

This is around 330,000 times greater than the mass of Earth. The sun is mainly made up of hydrogen and a small amount of helium. 

18. Olympus Mons is the largest known volcano in space. 

Located on the Western Hemisphere of Mars, it is 374 miles wide (almost the size of Arizona) and 72,000 feet tall (two and a half times the height of Mount Everest).

19. There is more than likely a black hole in The Milky Way.

This might sound scary, but astronomers believed if there is one in The Milky Way, it is light years away from Earth. 

20. One day on Venus is longer than one year.

As Royal Museums Greenwich explains: “It takes Venus longer to rotate once on its axis than to complete one orbit of the Sun. That’s 243 Earth days to rotate once – the longest rotation of any planet in the Solar System – and only 224.7 Earth days to complete an orbit of the Sun.”

21. The Whirlpool Galaxy was the first celestial object identified as being spiral.

It is made up of spiraling lanes of stars and gas. 

22. There is a planet made of diamonds. 

Known as 55 Cancri e, aka the “Super Earth,” the planet is believed to be covered in graphite and diamonds.

23. A light year is the distance light travels in one Earth year.

One light year is about 6 trillion miles. 

24. There are five known dwarf planets in our solar system. 

They are Pluto, Eris, Makemake, Haumea, and Ceres. There may be more but they have yet to be discovered. 

25. Venus spins clockwise on its axis.

Every other planet in the solar system spins anti-clockwise. The reason for Venus spinning around the Sun clockwise is that is was knocked off its axis millions of years ago, causing the planet to flip upside down. 

26. The Hubble Space Telescope is about the size of a large school bus.

It weighs a massive 24,500 pounds and orbits the Earth at a cruising speed of 17,000 mph. 

27. The Milky Way galaxy is 105,700 light years wide.

This means it would take 450,000,000 years for a spaceship to reach it. 

28. Jupiter’s moon Io has hundreds of volcanoes. 

NASA released a statement detailing Io and claimed the moon’s volcanos emit one ton of gases and particles into space each second. 

29. Venus is the second brightest natural object in the sky.

After the Moon, Venus is the brightest thing in space. Due to the planet’s atmosphere containing clouds of sulphuric acid that make it shiny and reflective, Venus is visible from Earth, even during the day. 

30. Footprints on the Moon will never disappear. 

This is because there is no wind on the Moon. 

31. A day on Mars is longer than a day on Earth.

A Martian day is 24 hours 39 minutes and 35 seconds long.

32. Saturn’s rings are named alphabetically based on when they were discovered.

They are the D ring, C ring, B ring, Cassini Division, A ring, F ring, G ring, and finally, the E ring.

33. Mars has a canyon system larger than the Grand Canyon.

The Valles Marineris extends for 2,500 miles and is ten times longer than the Grand Canyon. 

34. Evidence of water was found on the Earth’s Moon. 

NASA’s Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) found signs that suggest the Moon was once full of lakes and rivers. 

35. Solar Wind comes from the Sun.

Charged particles known as plasma are slowly heated up by the Sun until gravity can no longer hold them and they shoot forth into the universe. 

36. Earth is the only planet not named after an ancient god. 

Nobody really knows how Earth got its name, but it’s believed to originate from the Old English words “eor(th)e” and “ertha.”

37. Pluto is smaller than the United States. 

This is another reason why it is now classified as a dwarf planet. 

38. Spacecraft have visited every planet in the solar system.

These planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, along with the dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres.

39. Mercury is shrinking.

The second densest planet in the solar system (Earth is the densest), is still contracting billions of years after it was formed. 

40. Scientists believe there is a “ninth planet.”

Based on mathematical equations carried out by California Institute of Technology astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, many believe there is a ninth planet waiting to be discovered beyond Neptune. There are others who believe it could be a black hole. 

41. Uranus’ blue glow is due to the gases in its atmosphere.

The atmosphere of the planet is made up of hydrogen, helium, and methane. The methane filters out the Sun’s red light while the blue light is reflected, giving Uranus its blue hue. 

42. Halley’s Comet won’t orbit past Earth again until 2061.

The comet, discovered by Edmond Halley in 1705, only appears every 75-odd years. The last time it shot past Earth was in 1986.

43. Neutron stars can spin 600 times per second.

These types of stars are the tiniest in the universe. They have been known to spin as fast as 600-700 times per second. 

44. There are mountains on Pluto.

These icy mountains are more than 11,000 feet high.

45. NASA has recorded eerie space “sounds.”

Although you can’t actually hear anything in space, NASA uses a technique known as data sonification to record signals in space. They then turn them into audio tracks, where they have heard strange bleeps and blips that sound like alien spacecraft. 

46. There are four planets known as “gas giants” in the solar system. 

These planets are mainly made from gases, such as hydrogen and helium. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the four planets considered “gas giants.”

47. The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will collide.

In about 3.75 billion years the two galaxies will eventually collide and form one massive galaxy. 

48. There are more stars in space than there are grains of sand in the world.

It’s believed there are around 70 sextillion stars in the galaxy.

49. Space is full of junk. 

From fallen stars to dead satellites, there is a lot of junk floating around space. The Space Surveillance Network (SSN) keeps track of what’s in outer space and is tracking more than 27,000 pieces of space debris. 

50. There is a floating river in space. 

Astronomers have found a massive water vapor cloud some 10 billion light years away. It’s believed to hold around 140 trillion times more water than Earth, which is incredible. 

51. Pluto has the longest days in the universe. 

One full day is 153.6 hours long, which equates to six days, nine hours, and 36 minutes. This is due to the slow rotation of the planet around the Sun. 

52. The International Space Station (ISS) is the size of a football field.

Not only is it 357 feet long but it weighs 925,000 pounds, making it the largest human-made structure to enter space. 

53. Any liquid floating in space will form the shape of a sphere. 

This is due to something known as surface tension. 

54. You would last 15 seconds in space without a spacesuit. 

As there is no pressure space, air expands, so as soon as it gets into your lungs, they would expand and tear through your chest. 

55. We can only see 5% of the universe from space. 

68% of the universe is dark energy and 27% is dark matter, none of which we can see. 

56. The Moon was once part of Earth.

There is a theory that something hit Earth when it was newly formed, causing part of the planet to break away. This piece of debris then began orbiting the Earth due to its gravitational pull and is what we now call the Moon. 

57. Jupiter is a failed star. 

Although it contains the same elements the Sun is made up of, Jupiter is not large enough to create the energy needed to be a star. 

58. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are known as the “Inner Planets.”

This is because they are the closest planets that orbit the sun. 

59. We understand more about the Moon than our own oceans. 

Scientists have mapped the entire Moon’s surface, but only 35% of the world’s oceans have been mapped. 

60. The Earth’s rotation is slowing down. 

This is due to the tides coming from the Moon. This adds roughly 2.3 milliseconds to each day every century. When the Earth was first created a single day lasted around 19 hours.