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!
#1
The sun’s mass takes up 99.86% of our Solar System.
Image source: nhm.ac.uk, Lenstravelier
#2
When you look at a star, what you actually see is how it was in the past.
Image source: wtamu.edu
#3
Any free-moving liquid in outer space will form itself into a sphere.
Image source: usgs.gov
#4
The sunset on Mars appears blue.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#5
Saturn would float in water.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#6
A large percentage of asteroids are pulled in by Jupiter’s gravity and it protects us from cosmic impacts.
Image source: sciencefocus.com, Javier Miranda
#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!
Image source: npr.org
#8
Earth’s Moon is the fifth largest moon in the solar system.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#9
We know more about Mars and our Moon than we do about our oceans.
Image source: saildrone.com, Govind H
#10
Scientists have found a void in space 1 billion miles wide that could be a parallel universe.
Image source: newscientist.com
#11
Saturn has a huge extra ring that was only discovered in 2009.
Image source: science.nasa.gov
#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.
Image source: nasa.gov
#13
Space is not completely empty, but there are only about ten atoms per cubic meter of space.
Image source: physicsoftheuniverse.com
#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).
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov, Nicolas Lobos
#15
On Venus, it snows metal and rains sulfuric acid.
Image source: source.wustl.edu
#16
Dung beetles can use the Milky Way for orientation.
Image source: cell.com
#17
One million Earths could fit inside the Sun – and the Sun is considered an average-size star.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#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.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov, Justin Wolff
#19
There is a planet made of diamonds.
Image source: space.com
#20
About 1.4 billion years ago, a day on Earth was just 18 hours 41 minutes long.
Image source: science.org
#21
The Apollo astronauts’ footprints on the Moon could last up to 100 million years.
Image source: nasa.gov
#22
The moons of Uranus were named after characters created by Alexander Pope and William Shakespeare.
Image source: space-facts.com
#23
Mercury is still shrinking.
Image source: nasa.gov, Neven Krcmarek
#24
Pluto is smaller than the United States.
Image source: nasa.gov, TheSpaceway
#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!
Image source: nasa.gov, ROMAN ODINTSOV
#26
A day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days. A year on Venus lasts 225 Earth days.
Image source: spaceplace.nasa.gov
#27
The International Space Station (ISS) is the size of a football field.
Image source: nasa.gov
#28
It is possible to see the International Space Station from your backyard.
Image source: nasa.gov
#29
There are more than 4,000 known exoplanets, and counting.
Image source: exoplanets.nasa.gov
#30
There may be a huge planet at the edge of the Solar System nicknamed “Planet Nine”.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#31
Gamma-ray bursts can release more energy in 10 seconds than our Sun will in its entire 10 billion-year lifetime.
Image source: starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov
#32
The radio signal that a spacecraft uses to contact Earth has no more power than a refrigerator light bulb.
Image source: nasa.gov
#33
The first-ever black hole photographed is 3 million times the size of Earth.
Image source: bbc.com
#34
Coca-Cola was the first commercial soft drink that was ever consumed in space.
Image source: coca-colacompany.com
#35
Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space in 1963.
Image source: history.com
#36
The first living mammal to go into space was a dog named “Laika” from Russia.
Image source: rmg.co.uk
#37
The word “astronaut” means “star sailor” in its origins.
Image source: bbc.co.uk, WikiImages
#38
If you drilled a tunnel through Earth and jumped in, you would reach the other side in 42 minutes and 12 seconds.
Image source: livescience.com
#39
The center of the Milky Way galaxy has tens of thousands of black holes.
Image source: npr.org, nature.com
#40
The largest known asteroid is 940 km wide.
Image source: spacereference.org, Bryan Goff
#41
Saturn has 83 known moons and counting.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#42
There are 2,000,000,000,000 galaxies in the observable universe.
Image source: nasa.gov
#43
Voyager 1 and 2 have been operating for more than 40 years.
Image source: voyager.jpl.nasa.gov
#44
There is a planet in our galaxy where the daytime temperature is nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it possibly rains glass horizontally.
Image source: nasa.gov
#45
An estimated price of the spacesuit made in 1974 is between $15 and $22 million per unit.
Image source: slashgear.com, Pixabay
#46
Halley’s Comet won’t orbit past Earth again until 2061.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#47
If two pieces of the same type of metal touch in space they will permanently bond.
Image source: scientificliteracymatters.com
#48
Saturn’s moon Titan has lakes, too. The liquid in Titan’s lakes isn’t water – it’s a substance called methane.
Image source: snexplores.org
#49
The Moon is lemon-shaped.
Image source: space.com, samer daboul
#50
The Sun loses a billion kilos per second.
Image source: slate.com
#51
The Sun makes a full rotation once every 25 – 35 days.
Image source: soho.nascom.nasa.gov
#52
We always see the same side of the Moon, no matter where we stand on Earth.
Image source: discovermagazine.com
#53
There are more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way.
Image source: nature.com
#54
All planets in the solar system have been visited by uncrewed spacecraft.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#55
Planets can wander through space without a parent star.
Image source: earthsky.org, Bryan Goff
#56
Because of its unique tilt, a season on Uranus is equivalent to 21 Earth years.
Image source: nasa.gov
#57
In 2016, scientists detected a radio signal from a source 5 billion light-years away.
Image source: sciencealert.com
#58
Astronauts can’t burp in space.
Image source: qz.com
#59
There’s a gas cloud in the constellation of Aquila that holds enough alcohol to make 400 trillion trillion pints of beer.
Image source: nrao.edu, WikiImages
#60
You have to travel at least 11.2 km per second to escape the Earth’s gravity.
Image source: letstalkscience.ca
#61
You wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they have no solid surface!
Image source: jpl.nasa.gov
#62
If you could fly a plane to Pluto, the trip would take more than 800 years.
Image source: natgeokids.com
#63
Uranus orbits the Sun on its side.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov, Planet Volumes
#64
Enceladus, Saturn’s Moon, is the most reflective body in the solar system.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#65
Jupiter’s moon Io has towering volcanic eruptions.
Image source: nasa.gov
#66
There are mountains on Pluto.
Image source: nasa.gov
#67
Saturn has a hexagonal-shaped storm.
Image source: pnas.org, 18796645
#68
One teaspoonful of neutron star would weigh the same as the Mount Everest.
Image source: astronomy.com
#69
The Moon is getting farther away every year.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#70
Outer Space is only 62 vertical miles (100 km) away.
Image source: jpl.nasa.gov
#71
The International Space Station circles Earth every 90 minutes.
Image source: nasa.gov, SpaceX
#72
Stars twinkle because of the way light is disrupted as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere.
Image source: earthsky.org
#73
Asteroids are the byproducts of formations in the solar system, more than 4 billion years ago.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#74
Gennady Padalka has spent more time in space than anyone else – 879 days.
Image source: nationalgeographic.com
#75
Mercury has no atmosphere, which means there is no wind or weather.
Image source: weather.gov
#76
Red Dwarf stars that are low in mass can burn continually for up to 10 trillion years.
Image source: space.com, Daniel Cid
#77
Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story has actually been to outer space!
Image source: space.com
#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.
Image source: discovermagazine.com
#79
Saturn’s rings sort of vanish every now and then.
Image source: science.nasa.gov
#80
If you fell into a black hole, you’d get stretched out like spaghetti.
Image source: newsweek.com, geralt
#81
The dead skin of your feet peels off in Space.
Image source: theatlantic.com
#82
VY Canis Majoris is the biggest star in the universe – about 2000 times the diameter of our Sun.
Image source: herscheltelescope.org.uk
#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.
Image source: nationalgeographic.com
#84
The hottest planet is our Solar System is Venus reaching 867°F (464°C).
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#85
NASA has recorded eerie space “sounds.”
Image source: nasa.gov, Katie Lyke
#86
You would last about 15 seconds in space without a spacesuit.
Image source: livescience.com
#87
Neutron stars can spin 600 times per second.
Image source: astronomy.swin.edu.au
#88
In 3.75 billion years the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will collide.
Image source: nationalgeographic.com
#89
There is floating water in space.
Image source: nasa.gov, Anja Bauermann
#90
The gas giant Jupiter is a failed star.
Image source: scientificamerican.com
#91
Pluto and Charon could be a double dwarf planet system.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#92
More than 600 human beings have now been to space.
Image source: nytimes.com
#93
The solar atmosphere is 300 times hotter than the Sun’s surface – up to more than a million degrees.
Image source: nasa.gov
#94
Clouds at the center of the Milky Way smell of rum, taste of raspberries and are packed with booze.
Image source: iflscience.com, iopscience.iop.org
#95
There is gravity on the ISS.
Image source: nasa.gov
#96
Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#97
If a star passes too close to a black hole, it can be torn apart.
Image source: slashgear.com
#98
A day in Mars is only 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.
Image source: rmg.co.uk, WikiImages
#99
In our solar system that are 4 planets known as gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Image source: lpi.usra.edu
#100
Neptune’s moon, Triton, orbits the planet backwards.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#101
Light travels from the Sun to the Earth in less than 10 minutes.
Image source: image.gsfc.nasa.gov
#102
Spacesuit helmets have a Velcro patch, to help astronauts itch.
Image source: cosi.org
#103
Usain Bolt’s speed would actually allow him to fly like a bird on one of Saturn’s moons while wearing a wingsuit.
Image source: sciencedaily.com
#104
There’s an asteroid called Chariklo in our solar system that has rings, like Saturn.
Image source: eso.org, Paris_Saliveros
#105
The closest known black hole is just 1500 light years away from Earth.
Image source: newscientist.com
#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!
Image source: space.com
#107
Space is completely silent, because there is no air in space – it is a vacuum.
Image source: esa.int
#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.
Image source: science.nasa.gov
#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.
Image source: qrg.northwestern.edu, Luminas_Art
#110
There are probably more than 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1 septillion) stars in the universe.
Image source: esa.int
#111
The Moon was once a piece of the Earth.
Image source: nhm.ac.uk
#112
Mercury and Venus are the only planets with no moons.
Image source: image.gsfc.nasa.gov
#113
Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet, not a planet.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#114
The Sun will engulf Earth 5 billion years from now.
Image source: scientificamerican.com
#115
Galaxies are either elliptical, spiral, or irregular.
Image source: nasa.gov, Arnaud Mariat
#116
Most galaxies have a central black hole.
Image source: nasa.gov
#117
A rose was brought to space in 1998.
Image source: nasa.gov
#118
Shooting stars are space debris that burn up when they enter Earth’s atmosphere.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#119
We often see astronauts in white spacesuits, but there are orange spacesuits too – it stands out against the ocean or the sky.
Image source: livescience.com, Cash Macanaya
#120
One Mercury day lasts exactly two Mercury years.
Image source: eso.org
#121
If your spacesuit started leaking, you could survive for a couple of minutes.
Image source: scientificamerican.com
#122
Black holes have theoretical opposites known as white holes.
Image source: space.com
#123
Most Sun-like stars in our galaxy are in multiple star systems.
Image source: spaceplace.nasa.gov
#124
Our days are getting longer – but scientists don’t know why.
Image source: sciencealert.com, jonathan emili
#125
More than 1,300 Earths would fit into Jupiter’s vast sphere.
Image source: nasa.gov
#126
Mars has about one-third the gravity of Earth.
Image source: nasa.gov
#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.
Image source: science.nasa.gov
#128
The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) was the first celestial object identified as being spiral.
Image source: nasa.gov
#129
The Milky Way galaxy is 105,700 light-years wide.
Image source: starwalk.space, Denis Degioanni
#130
Earth is the only planet not named after a God.
Image source: universetoday.com
#131
Only 5% of the universe is visible from Earth.
Image source: nationalgeographic.com
#132
Uranus was originally called “Georgium Sidus” or “George’s Star”.
Image source: starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov
#133
In China, the Milky Way is known as the “Silver River”
Image source: amnh.org, Christian Lue
#134
There are 88 recognized star constellations in our night sky.
Image source: starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov
#135
Falling space junk has a 10% chance of killing someone in the next decade.
Image source: universetoday.com
#136
The biggest black hole is Monster Black Hole.
Image source: space.com
#137
Launching things into space is wildly expensive.
Image source: secretsofuniverse.in, Leonel Fernandez
#138
There are five officially recognized dwarf planets in the solar system.
Image source: turito.com
#139
Massive stars end their lives through supernova explosions.
Image source: astronomy.ohio-state.edu
#140
The boundary of the solar system ends in a spherical cloud known as the Oort cloud.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#141
Astronauts grow taller in space.
Image source: spacecentre.co.uk, Brian McGowan
#142
The closest star system to us, Proxima Centauri, is 4.25 light-years away.
Image source: imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov
#143
Other planets, and even a moon, have auroras too.
Image source: spaceplace.nasa.gov
#144
Super-hurricane-force winds on Venus are getting stronger.
Image source: sci.esa.int
#145
Rings are a lot more common in the Solar System than we thought.
Image source: iflscience.com, Yong Chuan Tan
#146
The universe is observed to be 13.8 billion years old and has been expanding since its formation in the Big Bang.
Image source: starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov
#147
If Jupiter’s magnetic field were visible, it would appear bigger than the Moon.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#148
Neptune has only completed one orbit around the Sun since its discovery in 1846.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#149
Heat from the Big Bang is still around today.
Image source: space.com, eli007
#150
Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, is half the size of Pluto.
Image source: solarsystem.nasa.gov
#151
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are known as the “Inner Planets”.
Image source: starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov
#152
The first artificial satellite in space was called “Sputnik”.
Image source: education.nationalgeographic.org, Sean Foster
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