Space facts are always interesting to learn!
As time goes by, technological advancements have seen us learn more facts about space in the past century than in all time before that.
We’ve literally searched the universe for the most amazing space facts, including facts about the planets in our solar system, moons, the Milky Way, and beyond! We’re pretty sure #100 will make you smile!
#76 Uranus was originally called “George’s Star”.
This name was in honor of discoverer William Hershel’s new patron, King George III.
The name “Uranus” was proposed in 1782, one year after its discovery, but wasn’t officially used until 1850.
You may like these facts about when the planets in our solar system were discovered.
#77 A sunset on Mars is blue.
Mars has less than 1% of the Earth’s atmosphere.
So the sunsets on Mars appear as blue due to the way the blue light from the Sun is captured within the atmosphere of Mars.
#78 The Earth weighs about 81 times more than the Moon.
The Moon’s gravity, much like other planets, differs depending on where you are on its surface.
#79 The first living mammal to go into space was a dog named “Laika” from Russia.
Laika was a stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow and was launched into space on the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 on 3rd November 1957.
Sadly, Laika died 5-7 hours into the flight due to overheating and stress. Poor doggo.
#80 The word “astronaut” means “star sailor” in its origins.
It is derived from the Greek words “astron”, meaning “star”, and “nautes”, which means “sailor”.
So, the word astronaut literally means “star sailor”.
It is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government and was established in 1958.
NASA discovers new facts about space every day, check out these NASA facts if you want to learn more!
#82 Gennady Padalka has spent more time in space than anyone else.
He is an RKA cosmonaut and has spent 879 days in space
He has worked on both Mir and the International Space Station.
#83 Mercury has no atmosphere, which means there is no wind or weather.
Instead of an atmosphere, Mercury possesses a thin exosphere made up of atoms blasted off the surface by the solar wind and striking meteoroids.
#84 In China, the Milky Way is known as the “Silver River”.
In Japan and Korea “Silver River” means galaxies in general, not just the Milky Way.
#85 Red Dwarf stars that are low in mass can burn continually for up to 10 trillion years!
A Red Dwarf is a small and cool star in a later stage of its life and has a surface temperature of less than 7,200k degrees Fahrenheit.
#86 Scientists once believed that the same side of Mercury always faced the Sun.
However, in 1965 astronomers discovered that the planet rotates three times during every two orbits it makes.
#87 Jupiter’s Red Spot is shrinking.
Jupiter’s red spot is a huge swirling hurricane-like storm that used to be three times the size of Earth! However, the storm is shrinking over time, but even as it shrinks it gets taller.
Scientists are still stumped as to what’s causing this although they believe it may be to do with jet streams on Jupiter changing location or direction.
#88 A large percentage of asteroids are pulled in by Jupiter’s gravity.
For this reason, Jupiter is known as the dumping grounds for our solar system.
Many of the asteroids that are potentially harmful to Earth, the long period comets, tend to be sucked into Jupiter’s gravity field.
Thanks Jupiter!
#89 A day on Mercury is equivalent to 58 Earth days.
This is because Mercury rotates on its axis very slowly compared to Earth.
#90 As space has no gravity, pens won’t work.
Normal pens work by gravity pulling the ink towards the pen’s nib (the writing part) – as you hold the pen in your hand writing part facing downwards.
As there’s no gravity in space, the ink doesn’t get pulled to the nib. However, special pens have been made that work in zero gravity.
#91 On average it takes the light only 1.3 seconds to travel from the Moon to Earth.
The distance between the Earth and the Moon is only 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers).
#92 There are 88 recognized star constellations in our night sky.
These 88 constellations cover the Earth’s night sky and can be observed from the southern and northern hemispheres.
#93 The center of a comet is called a “nucleus”.
The streams of dust that streak behind comets are known as a “coma” or a “tail”.
Space facts aren’t just about the planets! Here are some cool facts about comets.
#94 As early as 240BC the Chinese began to document the appearance of Halley’s Comet.
After 164BC there was a continuous recording of the comet each time it was visible.
This is because Pluto does not gravitationally dominate the neighborhood around its orbit.
#96 There are 5 Dwarf Planets recognized in our Solar System.
The Dwarf Planets are Ceres, Makemake, Haumea, Eris and Pluto.
The dwarf planet Ceres is also the largest asteroid in our solar system, and resides in the asteroid belt, making it the only dwarf planet to not inhabit the outer solar system.
#97 Mars is the most likely planet in our solar system to be hospitable to life.
In 1986, NASA found what they believe may be fossils of microscopic living organisms in a rock recovered from the surface of Mars.
#98 Halley’s Comet will pass over Earth again on 26th July 2061.
This space fact is one for kids to look forward to!
The famous comet was last seen on 9th February, 1986 and only orbits the Earth once every 75 – 76 years.
#99 There is a planet half the radius of the Earth with a surface made up of diamonds.
55 Cancri e has a mass eight times that of Earth’s despite having half the radius, and may very well have a surface made up of graphite and diamonds.
It is only 40 light-years away and visible to the naked eye under the constellation of Cancer.
#100 Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story has actually been to outer space!
Buzz Lightyear spent 15 months on board the International Space Station, and returned to Earth on the 11th September, 2009.
To infinity, and beyond!
We told you #100 would make you smile!
Space, for many, is a weird & wonderful thing. The great unknown is something mankind has always observed and tried to learn from – by understanding our galaxy we may be able to understand our place in it, and how this world came to be.
We hope these 100 cool space facts helped the mystery of space to become… well, less mysterious!
If you enjoyed these unusual facts about space, we have plenty more space facts for you to enjoy over at our Space category.
All these fun space facts were accurate at the time of writing, although we’ll update these facts about space regularly – so please let us know if something here is incorrect!
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