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For the past 2 years I've been sending daily space facts in many discord servers. I don't update this page often, so you're going to have to join my discord server to see all the new space facts. Anyways, enjoy :)
The first human to walk on the Moon was Neil Armstrong, on July 20, 1969.
The first asteroid was discovered in 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi.
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy that contains around 100 billion stars.
The first space station was the Soviet Union's Salyut 1, launched in 1971.
Halley's Comet is a periodic comet that orbits the sun every 76 years.
Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime that are produced by violent cosmic events like colliding black holes.
The first American in space was Alan Shepard, who made a suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7 in 1961.
The first meteorite was observed falling to Earth in 1803 in France.
The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova, who orbited Earth aboard Vostok 6 in 1963.
If you fold a piece of paper 42 times, it is thick enough to reach the moon.
The ISS orbits Earth at an altitude of about 250 miles and travels at a speed of approximately 17,500 miles per hour.
Astronauts on the ISS experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day due to the station's high orbit.
The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are the farthest human-made objects from Earth and are still sending back data from interstellar space.
The first black hole was discovered in 1971 by astronomers studying a binary star system.
Dark matter is a mysterious substance that makes up approximately 27% of the universe's mass.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched several successful missions to study the solar system and the universe, including the Rosetta mission to study a comet and the Gaia mission to map the Milky Way.
The first gravitational wave was detected in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).
The first artificial satellite was launched into space by the Soviet Union in 1957.
The sun is the largest object in the solar system and accounts for 99.86% of its total mass.
Space is the vast expanse that exists beyond Earth's atmosphere.
The Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft were the first to explore the outer planets of the solar system.
The first American woman in space was Sally Ride, who flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983.
Space is mostly empty, with a few atoms per cubic meter on average.
The universe is estimated to be around 13.8 billion years old.
The observable universe contains an estimated 2 trillion galaxies.
The nearest star system to our own is Proxima Centauri, which is about 4.22 light years away.
The speed of light is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second.
The sun is a star that is approximately 93 million miles away from Earth.
The sun's energy comes from nuclear fusion reactions that occur in its core.
The sun's magnetic field is responsible for the phenomena of sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections.
The sun's magnetic field flips every 11 years. The sun's gravity is what keeps the planets in orbit around it.
The sun's magnetic field flips every 11 years. This means that the north and south pole of the sun completely switch places.
Pluto was once considered the ninth planet in the solar system, but it was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.
The Kuiper Belt is a region of the solar system beyond Neptune that contains many small icy objects, including dwarf planets like Pluto.
The Oort Cloud is a theoretical region of the solar system that is believed to contain trillions of comets.
The asteroid belt is a region of the solar system between Mars and Jupiter that contains many small rocky objects.
Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt and is classified as a dwarf planet.
Meteoroids are small pieces of rock or metal that enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up, producing a streak of light called a meteor or shooting star.
Meteorites are meteoroids that survive their journey through the atmosphere and reach the surface of Earth.
The first human in space was Yuri Gagarin, who orbited Earth.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a joint project between the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.
The ISS is the largest human-made object in space and is roughly the size of a football field.
The ISS orbits Earth at an altitude of about 250 miles and travels at a speed of approximately 17,500 miles per hour.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a large, space-based observatory that has provided some of the most detailed images of the universe ever captured.
Black holes are regions of space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.
The event horizon is the boundary around a black hole beyond which nothing can escape.
The singularity is the point of infinite density at the center of a black hole.
The Big Bang is the theory that the universe began as a singularity and has been expanding ever since.
The Drake equation is a formula that attempts to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy.
The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between the high probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for their existence. (Yay, it's day 50 🎉🏅)
The cosmic microwave background radiation is a faint glow of radiation that permeates the entire universe and is thought to be the afterglow of the Big Bang.
The New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto in 2015, providing the first close-up images of the dwarf planet.
The Cassini spacecraft orbited Saturn for 13 years and provided detailed images of the planet, its rings, and its moons.
The Juno spacecraft is currently orbiting Jupiter and studying the planet's atmosphere, magnetosphere, and interior.
The Mars rovers Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity have explored the surface of Mars and provided valuable data on the planet's geology, atmosphere, and potential habitability. The Mars Insight lander is currently studying the interior of Mars to better understand the planet's structure and evolution.
The Artemis program is NASA's plan to return humans to the moon by 2024 and establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface.
China successfully landed its first rover, the Yutu, on the moon in 2013 and plans to launch a crewed mission to the moon in the future.
SpaceX is a private space company founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk that is working to make space travel more accessible and affordable.
Blue Origin is a private space company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that is developing reusable rockets for space tourism and scientific research.
The universe is expanding at an increasing rate due to a mysterious force called dark energy.
Virgin Galactic is a private space company founded by Richard Branson that is developing commercial spaceflights for tourists.
The United Arab Emirates successfully launched its first mission to Mars, the Hope Probe, in 2020.
There are more stars in the observable universe than there are grains of sand on Earth.
Space is mostly empty, with a few atoms per cubic meter on average. (Yay, a stack of space facts)
The Sun makes up more than 99% of the mass of the entire solar system.
The Sun is more than 330,000 times more massive than Earth.
The Milky Way has a supermassive black hole at its center called Sagittarius A*, which is about 4 million times the mass of the sun.
The Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall is a really long structure made up of clusters of galaxies. It's so big that it would take light about 10 billion years to travel from one end to the other.
There are a lot of galaxies in the observable universe - perhaps as many as 100 billion or more.
Light travels really, really fast - it can go around the Earth's equator 7.5 times in just one second.
There are many more possible chess games than there are atoms in the visible universe! 😱
Scientists have determined the age of the universe by studying the cosmic microwave background radiation, which is the oldest light in the universe.
Jupiter is more than 300 times more massive than Earth.
Venus has a thick atmosphere that rotates much faster than the planet itself. This creates strong winds and a layer of clouds that move very quickly.
UY Scuti is one of the biggest stars we've ever discovered - it's more than 1,700 times larger than the sun!
The Great Red Spot is a big storm on Jupiter that has been raging for centuries.
Neutron stars are really dense objects that are left behind after a star explodes. They are so dense that a teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh as much as a mountain.
The Sun is a star that provides heat and light to the planets in our solar system.
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite.
Jupiter is the fastest-spinning planet in our solar system. It rotates on its axis (which is a long, straight line that goes through the center of the planet and comes out at the poles) faster than any!
The concept of a meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through a trail of debris left behind by a comet, resulting in multiple shooting stars visible in the night sky.
The concept of a space probe refers to an unmanned spacecraft sent to explore and gather data about celestial objects and distant regions of space.
The concept of space junk refers to the accumulation of debris and defunct satellites in Earth's orbit, posing a risk to functioning spacecraft.
The concept of tidal forces is the gravitational pull exerted by one celestial body on another, causing tides on Earth and affecting the orbits of moons around planets.
The concept of an eclipse occurs when one celestial body passes in front of another, blocking its light, such as a solar eclipse or lunar eclipse.
The Andromeda galaxy is one of the furthest objects you can see with the naked eye (2.5 million light years away).
The concept of a satellite refers to any object that orbits around a larger celestial body, such as a planet or moon.
The concept of gravity was famously described by Sir Isaac Newton, who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation.
The Great Barrier Reef is visible from space and is one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth.
The Cassini spacecraft provided us with detailed images and information about Saturn and its moons.
A supernova is a powerful explosion that occurs at the end of a massive star's life.
The Earth's magnetic field is generated by the movement of molten iron in its outer core.
(Birthday special) Since the day I was born, and today, the moon has moved away at least 56.7cm from Earth already. The moon moves away from Earth with a rate of over 3.78 cm a year!
The concept of time can be affected by gravity and motion, as described by Einstein's theory of relativity.
The first human to walk on the Moon was Neil Armstrong in 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission.
The speed and direction of a rocket must be carefully calculated to reach a desired destination in space.
The Sun is so large that more than one million Earths could fit inside it.
A black hole the size of an atom has the mass of a big mountain.
The Great Dark Spot was a large storm on Neptune that disappeared in the late 1990s.
-The Sun is about 100 times bigger than the Earth. If you lined up 100 Earths side by side, they would be about the same size as the Sun!
-The Andromeda Galaxy, which is the closest galaxy to us, has more than 100 billion stars. That's a gigantic number of stars!
-Light travels really fast - it can go around the Earth's equator almost 100 times in just one second. It's super speedy!
The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, is a famous open star cluster visible to the naked eye.
The Oort Cloud is a theoretical cloud of icy objects located at the outermost edge of the solar system.
The planet Venus takes about 225 Earth days to complete one orbit around the Sun. That means a year on Venus is only about 225 days long!
The dwarf planet Pluto, which was formerly considered the ninth planet in our solar system, takes approximately 104 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun. This means that one year on Pluto is equivalent to around 104 Earth years!
The largest known volcano in the solar system is called Olympus Mons, and it's located on Mars. Olympus Mons stands at a towering height of about 21.9 kilometers (13.6 miles), making it more than 105 times taller than Earth's tallest volcano, Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
There are 290 moons in our solar system. These moons belong to different planets and provide fascinating insights into the diverse celestial bodies orbiting around them.
There is a star cluster called Messier 107 that has around 100,000 stars in it. Star clusters are groups of stars that are close together in space.
Between 1961 and 1983, Russia sent a number of Venera-space probes to Venus. Ten of these flew through the acidic atmosphere and landed on Venus.
The approximate distance between the Earth and the Sun is about 109 times the diameter of Earth. This distance is called an astronomical unit (AU). So, if you lined up 109 Earths next to each other, it would roughly equal the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
The dwarf planet Eris, which is located in the outer regions of our solar system, takes approximately 558 years to complete one orbit around the Sun. This means that one year on Eris is about 558 times longer than a year on Earth!
The sunset on Mars is blue, because the Martian atmosphere is dominated by large-sized dust particles, which cause something called 'Mie Scattering'. This filters out the red light from the sun's rays, and only lets the blue light reach our eyes.
Because there is no air in space, sound waves cannot travel, which leads to space having no sound. I would be scared in that silence 😂
Even though Mercury is closer to the Sun, the hottest planet in our solar system is Venus. Venus is 900°F or 475°C. This is hot enough to melt lead.
Because of how slow Venus rotates around its axis, a day on Venus takes longer than a year on Venus. A day on Venus is 243 Earth days long, while a year on Venus is only 225 Earth days long.
Venus is entirely covered with a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere and sulfuric acid clouds, which give it a light yellowish appearance.
Neither Mercury nor Venus have any moons at all.
Mercury is only slightly larger than our Moon.
A day on Mercury is 59 Earth days.
Mercury is the smallest and second hottest planet in our solar system!
Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system – travelling through space at nearly 47 kilometers (29 miles) per second.
It is unlikely that life as we know it could survive on Mercury due to solar radiation and extreme temperatures.
Two NASA missions have explored Mercury: Mariner 10 was the first to fly by Mercury, and MESSENGER was the first to orbit. ESA's BepiColombo is on its way to Mercury.
If the Sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth and Venus would each be about the size of a nickel.
Venus was the first planet explored by a spacecraft and was intensely studied early in the history of space exploration.
Venus rotates backward on its axis compared to most planets in our solar system.
Because Venus rotates backward on its axis, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, opposite of what we see on Earth.
Some scientists theorize microbes might exist high in the clouds of Venus where it’s cooler and the pressure is similar to Earth’s surface. Phosphine, a possible indicator of microbial life, has been observed in the clouds.
Earth's atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other ingredients—the perfect balance to breathe and live.
Earth's atmosphere protects us from incoming meteoroids, most of which break up in our atmosphere before they can strike the surface.
A day on Earth is exactly 23 hours and 56 minutes, and not 24 hours and 0 minutes, like many people think.
A day on Mars is actually longer than a day on Earth, being 24 hours and 37 minutes long.
Jupiter rotates once about every 10 hours (a Jovian day), but takes about 12 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun (a Jovian year).
Jupiter is a gas giant and so lacks an Earth-like surface. If it has a solid inner core at all, it’s likely only about the size of Earth.
Jupiter is more than twice as massive than the other planets of our solar system combined.
Our milky way is 13.6 billion years old.
Our milky way contains about 200 billion stars.
In the milky way, our Sun lies near a small, partial arm called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, located between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms.
We travel through space at a speed of 828,000 km/h (515,000 mph).
We can't take pictures of the milky way, since it would take millions if not billions of years to reach to the outside of it.
Our Milky Way was made by other galaxies.
About 10-15% of the Milky Way’s visible matter is made of dust and gas, with the rest being stars.
There is a black hole at the center of the Milky Way, which is the reason why our Milky Way even exists.
Our milky way is a "Barred spiral", in it's type and shape.
The Andromeda galaxy is located about 2,480,000 light-years from Earth.
Our Milky Way galaxy is destined to collide with our closest large neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy, in about five billion years.
The Andromeda galaxy's diameter is approximately 200,000 light-years.
The Andromeda galaxy is named after the Andromeda Constellation.
(Get ready for a lot of info) The furthest star we know was discovered in 2022 by the Hubble space telescope and is called WHL0137-LS but is mostly known as Earendel. It's 28 billion light years away from us.
NASA announced that the ISS' operations would end in 2030, after which it will fall into the Pacific Ocean.
The Andromeda galaxy is a spiral type galaxy.
The Andromeda galaxy possesses 800 billion times the mass of our sun.
The Andromeda galaxy is also known as Messier 31 or M31. The name came from Charles Messier, the French astronomer who catalogued the large galaxy.
The Andromeda galaxy was once believed to be a nebula.
Black Holes lie at the heart of large galaxies.
Immanuel Kant was the first to theorise our Milky Way wasn't the only galaxy in the universe.
The mass of the Andromeda galaxy is just about the same size as our own galaxy.
The second closest galaxy to the Milky Way is the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy.
The Triangulum galaxy is the 2nd-nearest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way, after the Andromeda galaxy.
Scientists from NASA and Osaka University in Japan now believe that trillions – not billions – of planets have "gone rogue" in the Milky Way galaxy.
From mid-northern latitudes, you can see Andromeda – M31 – for at least part of every night, all year long.
The smallest galaxy we know of is the Segue 2 Dwarf Galaxy.
The Segue 2 Dwarf Galaxy was discovered in 2009.
The Segue 2 Dwarf Galaxy is actually a satellite from our galaxy.
The Segue 2 Dwarf Galaxy is located about 110,000 light-years from us.
The Segue 2 Dwarf Galaxy only has about 1000 stars.
It'd take more than 221 light years to travel from one side of the Segue 2 Dwarf Galaxy to the other. Compared to the milky way (105'700 light years) that is nothing.
The Segue 2 Dwarf Galaxy has a light output just 900 times that of the sun. That's nothing compared to the Milky Way, which shines 20 billion times brighter.
The Segue 2 Dwarf Galaxy exists of stars that are mostly 12 billion years old.
Alcyoneus is the largest known galaxy of all.
Cruithne is an asteroid that circles earth in weird bean shaped patterns like a drunk mosquito that wants to be a spirograph.
Scientists have discovered the smallest black hole 10'000 lightyears away from us. It's 5 times smaller than the smallest one we knew before.
The smallest black hole we know is 19km (11.8 miles) in diameter.
You could walk around the smallest moon of our solar system in just 15 minutes. It's one of Saturn's moons.
Alcyoneus is located 3.5 billion light years from the Earth.
The previous record holder for largest galaxy used to be IC 1101 with a diameter of about 6 million light-years. Alcyoneus (the new record holder) is 3 times as big.
If you would be able to take a table spoon of a neutron star, it would have the same mass as 900 pyramids of Giza.
HD 10054b is believed to be the largest exoplanet.
Astrology originates from Babylon according to most people.
Halley's comet is visible from Earth with the naked eye about every 75 years.
A CubeSat satellite is a human-made satellite with a width of 10cm.
The first CubeSat satellite was launched in 2012.
There are around 4000 CubeSat satellites floating above us, with many still being launched.
CubeSat satellites are used for a variety of things, such as miniature experiments and Earth observation!
CubeSats are a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites.
The CubeSat satellite originates from a university in California, USA.
In 1999, professor Jordi Puig-Suari and Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University Space Systems Development Laboratory, developed the CubeSat specifications to promote and develop the skills necessary for the design, manufacture, and testing of small satellites.
Unlike full-sized spacecraft, CubeSats can be delivered as cargo to, and deployed by the International Space Station. This presents an alternative method of achieving orbit apart from deployment by a launch vehicle.
The Apollo Lunar Module is to this day still the only crewed spaceship that landed anywhere other than Earth.
When it comes to the question; why are planets in our solar system named after Greek and Roman gods, opinions vary. A lot of people seem to think it was a way to honour their gods though.
The Apollo Lunar Module costed 21 billion dollars to make in today's dollar.
The Saturn V rocket was 111 meters tall.
The Saturn V rocket is the rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon.
You would need approximately 5.44 x 10^25 hypothetical 1-gigaton nuclear bombs to blow up our solar system.
The SpaceX Starship rocket is 120 meters tall.
According to SpaceX, as the most powerful launch system ever developed, Starship will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights.
A light day is 26-billion kilometres. This is because light travels 26-billion kilometres in 1 day.
SpaceX wants to bring millions of people to Mars with the Starship rocket over the next century.
Dysnomia is a moon of a dwarf planet in our solar system called Eris.
Eris is one of the heaviest dwarf planets in our solar system.
- Every star you see in the night sky is way brighter and bigger than our sun.
- Our sun is a dwarf star.
- Our sun is a green-blue star.
Europa is the smallest of Jupiter's four "Galilean" moons.
Jupiter's moon Europa is just a tad smaller than our moon.
There may be liquid water on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, which may harbor life.
The smallest black hole is smaller than an average neutron star.
The moon Europa is the sixth-closest moon to Jupiter.
The smallest supermassive black hole is 10 million kilometres wide.
Callisto is one of Jupiter's moons.
Io has volcanism powered by tidal forces.
Io is the innermost and third-largest of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and is slightly larger than our moon.
Jupiter's moon Io has a gravity of 1.796 m/s². This means that the speed of an object falling freely will increase by about 1.796 metres per second every second.
Jupiter's moon Io was discovered on January 8, 1610.
Jupiter's moon Io was discovered by Galileo Galilei and is currently 628.3 million km away from Earth.
Callisto is Jupiter’s second-largest moon and the third-largest moon in our solar system.
Jupiter's moon Callisto is about the same size as Mercury.
Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, and has a radius of 2,631 km.
Ganymede was discovered on 7 January 1610.
Ganymede was discovered by Simon Marius and Galileo Galilei.
There are an estimated two trillion galaxies in the observable Universe.
NASA estimates that there are at least 100 billion planets in our Milky Way alone. Others estimated that the Milky Way galaxy might have anywhere between 100 to 200 billion planets.
One of the most mysterious questions about space is: "How did our Universe begin and how will it end?". Now that's deep 😔.
Cruithne is smaller than Palm Jumeirah, though it is bigger than Vatican City and Tesla's Giga Factory combined.
Space Weather describes the variations in the space environment between the sun and Earth.
220 Stephania is a minor planet named after a princess.
You can fit 9.3 billion of our suns into VY Canis Majoris, one of the largest stars known.
Moon dust smells like gunpowder.
The moon used to look much bigger.
Ganymede is a planet-mass moon.
Ganymede is about 1.07 million kilometers (665,000 miles) away from Jupiter.
Titan is Saturn's biggest moon and the second-biggest moon of our solar system.
Titan was discovered on March 25, 1655.
Titan is larger than any of the dwarf planets in our solar system.
You would freeze almost instantaneously on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
A day on Titan is 16 Earth days long.
Titan is the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere, and it's the only world besides Earth that has standing bodies of liquid, including rivers, lakes and seas, on its surface.
Rhea is the second largest moon of Saturn, behind Titan, and the largest without an atmosphere.
Rhea is the second-largest moon of Saturn, though only the ninth-largest moon in the Solar System.
Rhea was discovered on December 23, 1672 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.
Rhea completes an orbit around Saturn in just over 4.5 days.
Rhea's density, which is 1.3 times that of water, indicates that the moon is composed mostly of water ice.
Saturn's moon Rhea has a gravity of 0.264 m/s².
Saturn's moon Rhea has a diameter of 1,528 km (949 miles).
Saturn's third largest moon is Iapetus.
It has been suggested that Iapetus (like Rhea) is three quarters ice and one quarter rock.
Saturn's moon Iapetus was discovered in 1671 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini and if you read these facts react to this message with star.
Saturn's moon Iapetus was discovered on October 25, 1671.
Saturn's moon Iapetus has an orbital period of 79 Earth days.
Saturn's fourth-largest moon is Dione.
Saturn's moon Dione has a diameter of 1,120 km (696 miles).
Tethys is Saturn's fifth largest moon.
Tethys has gravitationally locked two smaller moons into its own subsystem — Telesto and Calypso.
Saturn's moon Tethys is named after the titan Tethys of Greek mythology.
Saturn's moon Tethys is about 1,060 km (660 mi) across.
Saturn's moon Tethys was discovered on March 11, 1684.
Saturn's moon Tethys was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.
Enceladus is Saturn's 6th largest moon.
Saturn's moon Enceladus has a mass of about 680 times less than Earth’s Moon.
The length of a day on Saturn's moon Enceladus is 32.9 hours.
William Herschel discovered Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Saturn's moon Enceladus has a radius of 504 kilometers (313 miles).
Mimas is Saturn's 7th biggest moon.
Saturn's moon Mimas was discovered in the year 1789.
William Herschel discovered Saturn's moon Mimas.
Ground-based astronomers could only see Mimas as little more than a dot until Voyagers I and II imaged it in 1980.
William Herschel was the first astronomer to attempt to determine the distribution of stars in the sky.
The furthest we can see in space is 13.8 billion light years away. That's how long the universe exists. Light further away than that hasn't had the time yet to reach us.
Because space has been expanding, the objects that used to be 13.8 billion light years away, have moved further, though the light was still traveling to us. That's why we can actually see over 40 billion light years in space.
The largest telescope in the world is located in the Canary Islands.
The Caltech scientists believe Planet X, a hypothetical planet in our solar system, may have a mass about 10 times that of Earth and be similar in size to Uranus or Neptune.
The predicted orbit of Planet X is about 20 times farther from our Sun on average than Neptune.
Today, most astronomers agree that Planet X, as Lowell defined it, does not exist.
Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, bigger than the planet Mercury and dwarf planet Pluto.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found the best evidence yet for an underground saltwater ocean on Ganymede, Jupiter's and the solar system's biggest moon.
NASA uses a technique called data sonification to take signals from radio waves, plasma waves, and magnetic fields and convert them into audio tracks to "hear" what's happening in space.
Hyperion is the largest of Saturn's irregular, nonspherical moons.
1 tsp of neutron star weighs the same as the human population.
Rather than the more commonly known weather within our atmosphere (like rain, snow, heat, and wind), space weather can come in the form of radio blackouts, solar radiation storms, and geomagnetic storms caused by disturbances from the Sun.
Possibly the world's best-known astronomer, Galileo constructed a simple refracting telescope in 1610 and became the first person to use a spy-glass for astronomy. The sheer number of stars, the rough surface of the Moon and sunspots astonished him.
Galileo Galilei discovered Saturn's rings, along with 4 of Jupiter's moons.
Galileo did not discover any of Saturn's moons.
It would take nine years to walk to the moon.
The word moon can be traced to the word mōna, an Old English word from medieval times. Mōna shares its origins with the Latin words metri, which means to measure, and mensis, which means month. So, we see that the moon is called the moon because it is used to measure the months.
It would take about 3,750,000 days, or about 10,000 years to walk to the Sun.
It would take roughly 346 days to walk around Earth.
It would take you approximately 2.5 trillion years to walk to the edge of the Milky Way.
If you could walk non-stop, it would take you about 91 days to walk around the moon.
Jupiter is 300 times heavier than Earth, which makes its gravitational force extremely strong. Due to this, your jump on Jupiter, made with similar force you applied on Earth, shrinks to 0.17 meters (or 6.69 inches).
Somehow, at some point (probably in the 1970s), the ideas of space and whales became permanently interwoven in the collective unconscious. Why? No one really knows, but here is some wild speculation: In 1971, scientists aroused interest in whalesong, which is sufficiently eerie and psychedelic.
There could be around 10+ billion moons in the Milky Way galaxy.
Iron currently accounts for approximately 0.11% of all matter in the universe.
Hydrogen is the most common material in the universe.
The rarest element known to humanity is Astatine. This highly radioactive and unstable element is so scarce that scientists have struggled to study it thoroughly.
About 67 chemical elements have been detected in the sun.
Hydrogen, Helium and Oxygen are the 3 most common elements on the sun.
The composition of Jupiter is similar to that of the Sun – mostly hydrogen and helium.
Like Jupiter, Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
Neptune's largest moon Triton was discovered on Oct. 10, 1846.
Venus is made up of a central iron core and a rocky mantle, similar to the composition of Earth. Its atmosphere is mainly made up of carbon dioxide (96%) and nitrogen (3%), with small amounts of other gases.
Black holes are regions in space where an enormous amount of mass is packed into a tiny volume. This creates a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape. They are created when giant stars collapse, and perhaps by other methods that are still unknown.
NASA announced on Dec. 19, 2023 (a week ago), that it has found a cluster of young stars called NGC 2264, also known as the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” which uncannily resembles the shape of a Christmas tree surrounded by bright lights.
- Mercury & Venus are the only 2 planets in our solar system that have no moons.
- Enceladus, one of Saturn’s smaller moons, reflects 90% of the Sun’s light.
- The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) was the first celestial object identified as being spiral.
The European Space Agency was established on May 30, 1975.
President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 into law on July 29, creating NASA. The agency opened for business on Oct. 1, 1958.
SpaceX launched its company on 14 March 2002.
In the ISS, you can celebrate the new year 16 times; Over 24 hours the ISS makes 16 revolutions around the Earth, which means that the astronauts can see the New Year 16 times.
In Decked Out 2, a dungeon game on the Hermitcraft server made by TangoTek, lies an artifact called CF-135, which is Cubfan135's artifact. It represents a rocket, though sadly never existed. CF-135 just stands for Cubfan135.
The Sun weighs about 330,000 times more than Earth.
Because a Martian day is 24 hours 39 minutes and 35 seconds long, you’d therefore assume there are fewer days in a year on Mars than Earth, right? Wrong! Because Mars orbits the sun slower than Earth, there are actually 687 Martian days in a Martian year!
It would take a modern spacecraft 450,000,000 years to travel to the center of our galaxy!
Our ideas of the colors of the planets Neptune and Uranus have been wrong, research led by UK astronomers reveals. Images from a space mission in the 1980s showed Neptune to be a rich blue and Uranus green. However, a study has discovered that the two ice giant planets are both similar shades of greenish blue. It has emerged that the earlier images of Neptune had been enhanced to show details of the planet's atmosphere, which altered its true color.
The Sun makes a full rotation once every 25 – 35 days.
When looking at diameter, Pluto is smaller than the United States.
According to mathematics, white holes are possible, although as of yet we have found none.
Because of its unique tilt, a season on Uranus is equivalent to 21 Earth years.
Scientists believe that when Triton eventually gets too close to Neptune, it will be torn apart by the planet’s gravity and could potentially create another ring around Neptune – giving it more rings than Saturn.
Neptune takes nearly 165 Earth years to make one orbit of the Sun. That’s equivalent to 60,190 Earth days to orbit the sun once! Neptune has a very slow orbital speed of 3.37 miles per second (5.43 km/s).
Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, is half the size of Pluto.
A day on Pluto lasts for 153.6 hours.
Any free-moving liquid in outer space will form itself into a sphere.
The Black Arrow is the only British satellite to be launched using a British rocket.
At any given moment, around 2,000 thunderstorms are happening on Earth.
If you were driving at 75 miles per hour, it would take 258 days to drive around Saturn’s rings.
The International Space Station circles Earth every 92 minutes.
Some stars twinkle because of the way light is disrupted as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere.
Using the naked eye, you can see 3 – 7 different galaxies from Earth. You can see the Andromeda Galaxy (M-31), both Magellanic Clouds, our own Milky Way galaxy, the Triangulum Galaxy (M-33), the Omega Centauri and the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy.
In 2016, scientists detected a radio signal from a source 5 billion light-years away. This means that when the signal started its journey, Earth didn’t even exist. The detected signals were located using the Very Large Array (VLA) of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in New Mexico.
The first Supernovae observed outside of our own galaxy was in 1885. This supernova was called the S Andromedae, located in the Andromeda galaxy.
The first-ever black hole photographed is 3 million times the size of Earth.
The distance between the Sun & Earth is defined as an Astronomical Unit.
An Astronomical Unit (AU) equates to roughly 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers.
Buzz Aldrin’s birth name was Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. He got the nickname “Buzz” from his sister’s mispronunciation of the word “brother”, which became “buzzer”. In 1988, he legally changed his first name to “Buzz”.
Coca-Cola was the first commercial soft drink that was ever consumed in space. The first food ever eaten in space was applesauce and was eaten by John Glenn in space during the Friendship 7 mission in 1962.
Astronauts can grow approximately two inches (5 cm) in height when in space.
If Saturn’s rings were 3 feet long, they would be 10,000 times thinner than a razor blade. The rings around Saturn are so thin because they are made up of pieces of dusty water ice ranging in size from dust grains to boulders.
Pluto is named after the Roman god of the underworld.
Spacesuit helmets have a Velcro patch, to help astronauts itch. It has no other use.
Saturn is the only planet in our solar system that could float in water.
Asteroids are the byproducts of formations in the solar system, more than 4 billion years ago.
Astronauts can’t burp in space. This is because the lack of gravity in space means the air in astronaut’s stomach doesn’t separate and rise up from ingested food.
Uranus was originally called “George’s Star”.
The word “astronaut” means “star sailor” in its origins. It comes from the Greek words “astron”, meaning “star”, and “nautes”, which means “sailor”.
Gennady Padalka has spent more time in space than anyone else.
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.
Sixty years ago on August 5, 1961, the youngest pilot and cosmonaut-trainee climbed on board the Vostok 2 spacecraft and spent 25.6 hours in space. This is one of the shortest times spent in space.
The moon's core is getting colder, meaning it's starting to shrink. This is leading to cracks on the moon surface, and 'moon-quakes'. This is bad, since these earthquakes tend to last a few hours, and with companies such as NASA wanting to get people to the moon in the next year or two, it might mean they have to change plans.
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.
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. So let's all thank Jupiter together. 🙂
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.
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”.
As early as 240BC the Chinese began to document the appearance of Halley’s Comet.
There are 5 Dwarf Planets recognized in our Solar System.
The 5 dwarf planets recognized in our solar system are Ceres, Makemake, Haumea, Eris and Pluto.
The dwarf planet Ceres is 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.
There is a planet half the radius of the Earth with a surface made up of diamonds and it's called 55 Cancri e.
The diamond planet from yesterday's fact is only 40 light years away. And I must excuse myself, yesterday I said it had half the radius of the earth, but it has 1.875 times the radius of the earth.
Alpha Centauri is a triple star system located just over four light years, or about 25 trillion miles, from Earth.
Alpha Centauri is three times closer than the next nearest Sun-like star.
Alpha Centauri is the 3rd-brightest star in our night sky – technically a trio of stars – and the nearest star system to our sun.
Buzz Lightyear spent 15 months onboard the International Space Station and returned to Earth on September 11, 2009.
The James Webb Space Telescope is named after NASA’s second administrator.
After flying 31 missions, with the first being in October 1985, Atlantis had its last scheduled flight in May 2010 to the ISS (International Space Station).
The tail of a shooting star can be 100 million kilometers long.
It only takes 3 days to get to the moon with a rocket.
Most stars in our universe are red dwarfs.
- The Milky Way smells of rum, raspberries and booze. In 2009 astronomers discovered a cloud of gas packed with Ethyl, which is known for having such a smell.
- You could survive for a couple of minutes in a leaky spacesuit.
- Gamma-ray bursts release more energy in 10 seconds than our Sun will in its entire life. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of gamma rays from extremely energetic explosions.
- Neptune has only completed one orbit around the Sun since its discovery.
- Planets can wander through space without a parent star.
Our days are getting longer. Earth’s spin speed is slowing: every year, it takes our planet a little longer to complete one full revolution on its axis.
Because the earth is tilted, and turns around the sun, different angles are exposed to the sun over the span of the year. This is why we have our 4 seasons.
Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is more than 20 times brighter than the Sun.
Galaxies in our vicinity are moving toward a gravitational focal point called the Great Attractor.
There are over 500,000 pieces of space debris, posing a threat to satellites and spacecraft.
Apart from NASA, other major space agencies include ESA (European Space Agency), Roscosmos (Russia), CNSA (China), and ISRO (India).
The habitable zone around a star, where conditions might support life as we know it, is often called the "Goldilocks Zone."
In the vacuum of space, certain metals can bond together due to a phenomenon called "cold welding."
"Space Oddity" by David Bowie was the first music video ever filmed in space.
The fastest spacecraft ever launched was the Parker Solar Probe, which can reach speeds of up to 430,000 miles per hour. (692,017 kilometers per hour.)
The Boomerang Nebula has the record for the lowest natural temperature ever recorded, about one degree Kelvin (-272.15°C).
The cost to send one pound of payload into space is around $10,000.
The Cosmic Microwave Background is the afterglow of the Big Bang and is visible in every direction of the sky.
Spinning storms on Neptune are big enough to swallow the whole Earth.
Measurements from the James Webb Space Telescope confirm that the universe is structured differently than previously thought, emphasizing the discrepancy between the Hubble and Planck telescopes.
Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are private companies working to make space tourism a reality.
The Space Age officially began on October 4, 1957, with the launch of Sputnik 1. The Apollo program put the first humans on the Moon.
Many technologies originally developed for space exploration have found applications in everyday life, including memory foam, scratch-resistant lenses, and cordless vacuums.
The boundary where the Sun's influence ends is called the heliopause, marking the edge of our solar system.
The European Space Agency is developing a space debris collector called ClearSpace-1 to remove defunct satellites from orbit.
The National Space Activities Commission (Spanish: Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, CONAE) is the civilian agency of the government of Argentina in charge of the national space programme.
The longest spacewalk in history lasted 8 hours and 56 minutes, performed by NASA astronaut Susan Helms.
The Sun's magnetic field flips approximately every 11 years in what is known as the solar cycle.
Earth has a magnetic field generated by its iron core, protecting us from the solar wind.
The Vredefort Dome in South Africa is the world's largest verified impact crater, approximately 300 kilometers (186 miles) in diameter.
A teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh about 10 million tons on Earth.
Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, was the last person to walk on the Moon in December 1972.
The Chicxulub impact, which occurred about 66 million years ago, is believed to have caused the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.
The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission successfully landed the Philae spacecraft on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse crossed North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
The path of the eclipse continues from Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Solar eclipses occur between Saros cycles.
Everyone in the continental U.S. saw at least a partial eclipse.
Tens of millions of people live in the eclipse path.
Mexico will saw the longest totality during the eclipse.
A part of the sun which is typically hidden will reveal itself. Solar eclipses allow for a glimpse of the sun’s corona—the outermost atmosphere of the star that is normally not visible to humans because of the sun’s brightness.
Space suits have come a long way from the first ones used in the 1960s, now incorporating advanced materials and life support systems.
The Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia is the deepest artificial point on Earth, reaching a depth of about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles).
PSR J1748-2446ad, a neutron star, rotates a whopping 716 times per second.
Earth's magnetosphere contains the Van Allen radiation belts, which trap charged particles from the solar wind.
Mars experiences massive dust storms that can engulf the entire planet for months.
The geosynchronous graveyard is a region where defunct satellites are moved to avoid collision with active satellites.
A transit of Venus, where Venus passes directly between Earth and the Sun, occurs in pairs separated by about eight years and then not again for over a century.
NASA's Space Shuttle program operated from 1981 to 2011, with a total of 135 missions.
Apollo 13 was a near-disastrous mission that safely returned to Earth despite a major onboard explosion.
On the third day of the Apollo 13 mission the routine activation of a fan in one of the service module's oxygen tanks led to a short circuit and an explosion in that tank.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured the iconic Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula in three dimensions.
Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed the first-ever spacewalk on March 18, 1965.
Valeri Polyakov holds the record for the longest single spaceflight, spending 437 days aboard the Russian space station Mir.
A transit of Venus, where Venus passes directly between Earth and the Sun, occurs in pairs separated by about eight years and then not again for over a century.
The last transit of Venus, where Venus passes directly between Earth and the Sun, occurred in 2012 and the next ones will happen on December 10-11, 2117 and December 8, 2125.
Lagrange points, or Lagrangian points, are locations in space where objects can stay in position relative to another, larger body. They are made possible by the balance of gravitational and centripetal forces — for example, between Earth and the sun, or between Earth and the moon. Because Lagrange points are easy to reach, many spacecraft are sent to perform their observations from these locations.
Earth has five Lagrange points, as does Earth's moon. Earth's L1 and L2 points are within the easiest reach of space missions.
The Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1967, established principles governing the exploration and use of outer space.
One object's full orbit around a black hole is called a "galactic year."
The average American astronaut makes about $140,000 USD a year.
In order to qualify to be a NASA astronaut, one must be taller than 5'2" (~157cm) and shorter than 6'3" (~1.90cm).
The first exoplanets were discovered on January 9th, 1992, and were named "Poltergeist" and "Phobetor."
A sidereal day measures the rotation of Earth relative to the stars rather than the sun. It helps astronomers keep time and know where to point their telescopes without worrying about where Earth is in its orbit.
Mars days are called "Sols" to differentiate them from Earth days.
The Milky Way has five arms.
The first astronomers are thought to be the Assyro-Babylonians, who studied the skies around 1000 BCE.
The first photograph of Sagittarius A* was released in 2019.
Astronauts must prepare for a decade before going into space. This decade includes basic training, education, and practice runs.
K2-18b – also known as EPIC 201912552 b – is an exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf K2-18.
On Friday, April 26, the James Webb Telescope again turned its attention to K2-18b in an effort to further investigate signs of potential life. The observation lasted eight hours, and during that time the scientific world was momentarily on its feet. According to the latest findings, there may be single-cell organisms - bacteria - on the planet, which is also indicated by a thick atmosphere and possible conditions for life.
According to NASA, the name "Pluto" was proposed by Venetia Burney, an 11-year-old girl from England.
We use earthquakes to peek into Earth's core.
"Cosmology" is the study of the origins of the universe–how it began, where it came from, etc.
"Astrophysics" is the study of the math and theories behind the things that exist in the universe.
During the night of the 10th of May 2024 the Northern Lights were visible in multiple places in Europe.
During a solar storm, electrically charged particles pass through the atmosphere at high speed and collide with each other. This releases energy, resulting in the play of colors in the sky. The particles are mainly drawn to the north and south poles, because that is where the Earth's magnetic field is strongest.
In 1885, the first supernova outside our own galaxy was discovered.
Pluto is half the size of the United States.
WASP-193b is a planet recently discovered by a Belgian university, and it looks like candyfloss. 😄
WASP-193 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits an F-type star. Its mass is 0.139 Jupiters, it takes 6.2 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0676 AU from its star.
In May 2012, history was made. The first tent to ever go into space!
Your hair collects space dust from comets.
Some stars are so cold, you could touch them without burning your hand. These stars are called Y-type stars and are brown dwarfs.
There could be as many as 10 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way.
Precious metals like silver and gold are forged when dead stars collide.
Asteroids can have rings and moons.
Uranus and Neptune may have switched places. Some simulations suggest that early in their history they effectively changed places, meaning Uranus might once have been the last planet in the Solar System, but it gave the role to Neptune.
A cigar-shaped object named ‘Oumuamua, was the first known interstellar object (from outside our Solar System).
Most stars seem white to our eyes, but photos show they have a wider range of colors, mostly subtle.
The average temperature of the universe is 2.7° Kelvin (-455° Fahrenheit, -270° Celsius).
The Leonid meteor shower gleams in November as we pass through a trail of dust and gas left by Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.
When two of the same metals touch each other in space, they automatically bond to one another. This phenomenon is called "cold welding."
The Drake equation is a mathematical formula that radio astronomer Frank Drake wrote in 1961. The formula estimates the number of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy that can communicate with us via radio.
According to the Drake equation, there are 15,600,000 intelligent civilizations in the universe that could communicate with us via radio.
The radio signal that a spacecraft uses to contact Earth has no more power than a refrigerator light bulb. And by the time the signal has traveled across space, the signal is only one-billionth of one-billionth of one watt!
True to its namesake (the speedy messenger of ancient Roman gods), Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system. It zips around our Sun at an average of 172,000 kilometers per hour (107,000 miles per hour) — about 65,000 kph (40,000 mph) faster than Earth.
On June 2, 1966, NASA's Surveyor 1 made history by becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to land successfully on the Moon.
On June 3, 2024, a rare alignment of six planets will be visible in the pre-dawn sky. This celestial event, known as a "planet parade," will feature Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune lining up in a spectacular display.
The most common type of galaxy in the universe are elliptical galaxies.
Astrochemistry is the study of molecules and ions occurring in stars and interstellar space.
Only 0.000003% of the Milky Way is visible from earth. (I am not sure if this is with the naked eye or with help, I couldn't find it anywhere. Sorry to disappoint 😓)
The discovery of exoplanets has revolutionized our understanding of the universe, expanding our knowledge and sparking the search for habitable worlds and extraterrestrial life. Astrophysics has played a big role in this.
The James Webb Space Telescope is a tool used to detect galaxies far away.
The only galaxy outside of the Milky Way we can see with the naked eye is the Andromeda Galaxy.
45% of stars the size of the Sun have planets around them.
The third brightest celestial object in our sky is Venus.
The first planet's moons to be discovered (outside of our Moon) were from Jupiter.
Pluto hasn't cleared its orbital area, failing the planet definition.
Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence.
The only spacecraft to have visited Uranus is the Voyager 2.
On Father's Day, June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to fly into space. She piloted the Vostok 6 spacecraft, orbiting the Earth 48 times over the course of almost three days.
Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who in 1969 became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Armstrong was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio. (Also Neil. A spelled backwards says Alien 👀)
681 people have been to space, as of February 2024. (This means it might have changed by then)
The Soviet Union's Mars 3 mission achieved the first successful landing on Mars in 1971, although communication with the lander was lost shortly after.
The detection of methane on Mars has puzzled scientists, as it could indicate either geological activity or microbial life. The source of this methane remains uncertain.
Launched in 1996, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor provided crucial data about the Martian atmosphere, surface, and magnetic field until its mission concluded in 2006.
In 2004, two NASA rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on Mars within weeks of each other, providing valuable insights into the planet's geology and history.
In 2021, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter made history as the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet.
In the late 19th century, astronomer Percival Lowell mistakenly believed he observed a network of canals on Mars, sparking widespread speculation about the possibility of intelligent life.
Mars has a solar day, based on its position relative to the sun, and a sidereal day, based on its rotation relative to distant stars. The solar day is what we commonly refer to as a day on Mars.
Launched by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Mars Express Orbiter has been mapping the Martian surface since 2003.
Cacti are studied for space exploration due to their ability to thrive in harsh, arid conditions similar to those found on Mars.
Valles Marineris, a vast canyon system on Mars, dwarfs Earth's Grand Canyon. It is over 2,500 miles (4,000 km) long, up to 7 miles (11 km) deep, and in some places, up to 370 miles (600 km) wide.
The amount of velocity needed to escape our planet's gravity is approximately 11 km per second (40,000 km/h, 25,000 miles/h), which is known as escape velocity. (Fact provided by Cycy98)
InSight, a NASA lander, successfully touched down on Mars in 2018 with the mission to study the planet's interior and seismic activity.
In 2022, ESA Discovery funded 12 projects that explored whether we can apply the latest developments in AI and advanced computing paradigms to make satellites more reactive, agile and autonomous.
In 2022, ESA Discovery's 12 funded projects found that integrating AI and advanced computing into satellites significantly enhances their autonomy, onboard data processing capabilities, and effectiveness in Earth observation and space exploration.
Phobos, one of Mars' moons, is gradually moving closer to the planet and is predicted to eventually disintegrate or collide with Mars.
Some meteorites found on Earth have been identified as originating from Mars, offering scientists a unique opportunity to study Martian geology.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has expressed his vision for establishing a human settlement on Mars, outlining ambitious plans for future colonization efforts.
The Mars Sample Return mission aims to leave a lasting legacy by providing scientists with unprecedented access to Martian materials for generations to come.
Noctilucent clouds, rare and high-altitude clouds, have been observed on Mars, adding to the planet's atmospheric mysteries.
Mars transits, when the planet passes in front of the sun, have been observed from Earth, providing astronomers with opportunities to study Mars' atmosphere.
Organizations conduct Mars colony simulation projects on Earth, such as the HI-SEAS mission in Hawaii, to study human behavior and adaptation in confined, isolated environments.
Water ice clouds form in Mars' atmosphere, particularly in its polar regions, creating stunning cloudscapes that have been captured by orbiting spacecraft.
Detection of concentrated methane plumes in specific Martian locations has led scientists to explore potential subsurface sources for this elusive gas.
Mars' atmosphere varies in thickness, with the thickest regions near the equator and the thinnest at higher latitudes.
Mars exhibits retrograde motion, an apparent backward movement in the night sky caused by the differences in orbital speeds between Earth and Mars.
- The moon is (kinda) lemon-shaped.
- A day on Jupiter lasts 9 hours and 56 minutes.
- Neptune is the most dense of the giant planets.
The Mars Sample Return mission faces challenges in designing a safe and efficient ascent vehicle to launch collected samples from the Martian surface.
Mars experiences significant seasonal changes, impacting its climate and surface features. These variations are driven by its axial tilt and elliptical orbit.
Earth's atmosphere fluctuates due to various factors like temperature changes, pressure differences, and human activities. These fluctuations can affect weather patterns, climate, and even air quality.
The gaps and divisions within Saturn's rings are often shaped and maintained by the gravitational influence of its numerous small moons, known as shepherd moons.
Saturn has a moon bigger than Mercury.
The bright trailing hemisphere of Iapetus reflects much less sunlight than its darker leading hemisphere, creating a significant difference in brightness that scientists are still investigating.
Telesto, one of Saturn's moons, orbits within the same path as the moon Tethys, at a point known as the "L4 Lagrange point," making it a Trojan moon.
Solar radiation can have harmful effects on human health if not properly protected against. (Wear sunscreen these holidays please ❤️)
The Quadrantia effect causes temperature variations on Mars, influencing weather patterns and creating regional differences in climate.
The ISS crew indeed sent messages and celebrated the 2012 London Olympics by engaging in their own microgravity activities, connecting the global event with space.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet was aboard the ISS during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and actively shared messages and performed a judo move in space as a symbolic celebration of the event.
The Olympic torch was taken into space for the first time aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1996 as part of the Atlanta Summer Olympics celebrations.
Historical beliefs linked Mars' oppositions with superstitions and myths, such as the idea that Mars' alignment influenced human behavior.
In 2021, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter made history as the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet.
During seven years as a test pilot, Armstrong flew 200 different aircraft that pushed the limits of speed and altitude, including the legendary X-15.
The Triangulum galaxy, named for its location in the constellation Triangulum, is the 2nd-nearest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way.
The currently recognized smallest galaxy is Segue 2, it's a dwarf galaxy in the constellation of Aries.
Lots of Kuiper Belt objects have moons.
NASA says there may be trillions of icy objects in the Kuiper Belt, with hundreds of thousands of these objects having diameters larger than 62 miles (100 km). It is home to at least five known dwarf planets, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Quaoar, and of course Pluto.
Imagine the entire observable universe as a single cell in your body. Now, within that cell, the Milky Way galaxy would be smaller than a tiny protein, and our solar system would be even smaller—like a single atom within that protein.
Architects and researchers are exploring innovative designs for potential Martian colonies, considering factors such as habitat construction.
The Martian atmosphere is less than 1% as dense as Earth's, posing challenges for aerodynamic flight and heat dissipation.
While Andromeda is the largest galaxy in the Local Cluster, it may not be the most massive. The Milky Way is thought to contain more dark matter, which could make it much more massive.
The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way at approximately 100 to 140 kilometres per second. 🤯
Since the Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to us, astronomers use it to understand the origin and evolution of such galaxies.
The Andromeda Galaxy has at least two spiral arms, plus a ring of dust that may have come from the smaller galaxy M32.
There are at least 450 globular clusters orbiting in and around the Andromeda Galaxy. Some of them are among the most densely populated globulars ever seen.
The Andromeda Galaxy has at least two spiral arms, plus a ring of dust that may have come from the smaller galaxy M32. Astronomers think it may have interacted more closely with Andromeda several hundred million years ago when M32 plunged through the heart of its larger neighbor.
There are at least 450 globular clusters orbiting in and around the Andromeda Galaxy. Some of them are among the most densely populated globulars ever seen.
The microlensing event PA-99-N2 hints at the existence of an extragalactic planet. It is estimated to be 6.34 times as massive as Jupiter. If proven, it would be the first exoplanet to be known that is outside the Milky Way.
The Andromeda Galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 3.4.
The Triangulum galaxy is around half the size of the Milky Way galaxy and it’s one of the galaxies that is close to the same spiral structure as the Milky Way.
Credit for discovery of the Triangulum galaxy goes to Giovanni Battista Hodierna, an Italian astronomer that discovered the galaxy some time before 1654.
Stars have a lifecycle, with larger stars burning out faster than smaller ones. Our sun, a medium-sized star, has an estimated lifespan of about 10 billion years.
In 840AD Emperor Louis of Bavaria died of fright when experiencing an eclipse of the sun – this is when the moon moves between the Earth and the sun and a shadow falls over parts of the Earth.
Most of the stuff in the Universe has repulsive gravity, which is the idea that gravity can have an effect that pushes objects away from each other, as opposed to the more familiar attractive force that pulls objects towards each other.
At the heart of a black hole lies the singularity, an infinitely dense point where the known laws of physics break down, rendering it a profound mystery for scientists.
Stellar-mass black holes are the most common variety, typically 3 to 20 times the mass of our Sun. They result from the explosive death of massive stars, leading to the formation of a black hole.
Intermediate-mass black holes, larger than stellar-mass black holes but smaller than supermassive ones, remain a subject of ongoing scientific inquiry, with their formation still shrouded in mystery.
The event horizon is the boundary around a black hole, marking the point of no return. Beyond this threshold, the gravitational pull becomes so immense that even light can't escape.
Black holes can be categorized based on their spin and charge. The Schwarzschild black hole is non-rotating and uncharged, while Kerr black holes rotate, and Reissner-Nordström black holes possess an electric charge.
Stars play a vital role in the creation of black holes. They undergo nuclear fusion, converting lighter elements into heavier ones until they eventually run out of fuel and collapse into black holes.
In April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope unveiled the first-ever image of a black hole, capturing the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87. This marked a historic milestone in astrophysics.
Einstein's theory of relativity predicts gravitational lensing, which occurs when the gravity of a black hole distorts and bends the light of objects behind it, creating a magnifying effect.
The Schwarzschild radius, named after physicist Karl Schwarzschild, is the critical radius that defines the event horizon of a non-rotating black hole. It's directly proportional to the mass of the black hole.
As objects approach a black hole, they experience extreme tidal forces due to the intense gravitational pull. This phenomenon, known as spaghettification, results in the object being stretched into long, thin strands.
Due to the intense gravity, time passes more slowly close to the event horizon compared to distant observers.
Cygnus X-1 was the first black hole candidate discovered in 1964. It's a stellar-mass black hole in a binary system with a blue supergiant star.
In 2019, astronomers discovered a black hole named MAXI J1820+070, which holds the record for the fastest-spinning black hole, rotating at nearly the speed of light.
To grasp the enormity of black holes, consider that the smallest known black holes have a mass similar to Earth's but are compressed within a sphere only a few miles in radius.
Astronomers can't observe black holes directly. Instead, they rely on detecting the gravitational influence of a black hole on nearby objects or the emissions produced by matter falling into them.
Black hole binaries are systems consisting of two black holes orbiting each other. When they merge, they release gravitational waves, a phenomenon detected by LIGO and Virgo observatories.
The Hubble Space Telescope has played a crucial role in the study of black holes. It has captured stunning images of galaxies with active black holes at their centers.
Black holes can be found within star clusters, where stellar collisions and interactions are more frequent. These environments create conditions ripe for the formation of black holes.
Black holes could provide insight into the elusive nature of dark matter. Their gravitational interactions may offer clues about the presence of dark matter in the cosmos.
Supermassive black holes grow by accreting mass from their surroundings. They can consume stars, gas, and other matter, steadily increasing their size.
Contrary to popular belief, black holes do not "suck" everything around them like a cosmic vacuum cleaner. Objects must come close enough to be captured by their gravity.
Massive stars shed layers of material into space before collapsing into black holes. This process enriches the cosmos with heavy elements essential for life.
The concept of time travel near black holes is theoretical but intriguing. Under certain conditions, it might be possible to journey into the future or past near a black hole.
Stephen Hawking's groundbreaking theory suggests that black holes can emit radiation due to quantum effects near their event horizons. This process is known as Hawking radiation.
The information paradox is a long-standing mystery in black hole physics. It questions whether information swallowed by a black hole is lost forever or can be somehow retrieved.
Quasars are extremely luminous and distant objects powered by supermassive black holes. They emit intense radiation and can be observed across vast cosmic distances.
When a star strays too close to a black hole, it can be torn apart by tidal forces, producing a spectacular display of energy and radiation known as a tidal disruption event.
Earth will get a second "mini-moon" for 2 months this year.
The 2nd moon Earth will get this year is actually an asteroid that was discovered in August and is set to become a mini-moon, revolving around Earth in a horseshoe shape from Sept. 29 to Nov. 25.
An asteroid called 2020 CD3 was bound to Earth for several years before leaving the planet's orbit in 2020 and another called 2022 NX1 became a mini-moon of Earth in 1981 and 2022 and will return again in 2051.
Black holes exhibit a "wobble" or precession, caused by their rotation. Just as the Earth's axis precesses, black holes also experience this orbital dance.
When a massive star exhausts its nuclear fuel, it can no longer counteract gravitational collapse. This results in a supernova explosion, often leaving behind a black hole.
Supermassive black holes are believed to play a significant role in forming galactic nuclei, contributing to the structure and evolution of galaxies.
A Schwarzschild black hole is a non-rotating, uncharged black hole, often used as a theoretical model for understanding black hole physics.
Kerr black holes are rotating black holes, characterized by their angular momentum. The Kerr metric describes their properties, including the event horizon and ergosphere.
Reissner-Nordström black holes, described by the Reissner-Nordström metric, possess an electric charge. They are rarely observed in the cosmos.
To break free from a black hole's gravitational pull, an object would need to achieve a velocity greater than the speed of light, which is currently deemed impossible by the laws of physics.
About 75% of all astronauts have taken medication during shuttle missions for conditions such as motion sickness, headache, sleeplessness, and back pain.
The risk of infections is increased in space because of multiple factors, including environmental contamination, changes in microbial behaviour, and a weakened immune system, and indeed, serious infections have historically occurred on multiple occasions during spaceflight.
Roughly 60% to 80% of space travellers have experienced what scientists call “space motion sickness,” which can last for a few days or even longer.
During spaceflight, even minor illnesses that have minimal effects on Earth can have substantial consequences. For example, simple upper respiratory infections can lead to mission delays, considerable costs, and reduced crew wellbeing and performance, potentially resulting in premature termination of the mission or loss of crew life.
During a spacewalk, Luca Parmitano's helmet filled with water, nearly causing him to drown. He returned safely to the ISS, though had he been there a bit later, he wouldn't have made it.
Gennady Padalka developed a severe eye infection on Mir. The infection caused swelling and irritation, making it difficult for him to see out of one eye. He luckily recovered with help from his crew.
Scientists have named a galaxy, "Death Star Galaxy" because it is shooting an energetic blast of energy from its supermassive black hole at its companion galaxy and thereby destroying it.
Black holes are often detected by the X-rays they emit. This high-energy radiation results from the heating of matter spiraling into the black hole's accretion disk.
The Penrose process, proposed by physicist Roger Penrose, outlines a mechanism by which energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole. It remains theoretical but is an intriguing concept.
Black holes can host stars in their vicinity. These stars orbit the black hole as if it were any other celestial body, albeit under the influence of its intense gravity.
It is not possible for anything to escape a black hole once it crosses the event horizon, not even information, making the interior of a black hole one of the universe's best-kept secrets.
The gravitational pull of a black hole causes light to become increasingly redshifted as it approaches the event horizon, eventually rendering it undetectable.
Micro black holes are theoretical tiny black holes that could exist, but they would evaporate quickly due to Hawking radiation, making them challenging to detect.
Black holes typically receive names based on their location in the sky, often combining the constellation they are in with a numerical designation. For example, Cygnus X-1 is in the constellation Cygnus.
SpaceX has installed the Flight Termination System on the Superheavy and Starship and issued exclusion zone warnings for Sunday morning, with backup dates from Monday to Wednesday. They plan to test the flight, possibly attempting to catch the Superheavy booster at the launch site.
The 1997 science fiction film "Event Horizon" explores the horrors of a spaceship with a prototype gravity drive that creates a black hole-like portal, blending science and horror fiction.
Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, published in 1915, laid the foundation for our understanding of black holes and their behavior in the cosmos.
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a comet that flew by Earth around 80,000 years ago, meaning the last people who saw it were the Neanderthals. You should be able to see it during the rest of this week, and even next week. Just after sunset, look toward the west and find the constellation Virgo, the second-largest constellation in the sky, and that's where Tsuchinshan-Atlas should appear. It looks like a very bright star with a big tail behind it.
A supermassive black hole dating back to just 690 million years after the Big Bang was discovered in 2017, offering insights into early cosmic history.
The Hunter's supermoon will light up the night sky on 16 and 17 October 2024. Don't worry if you miss seeing it that night: the Moon will still appear full for another three evenings.
Tidal disruption events occur when a black hole shreds a star apart, leading to the release of immense energy and visible flares.
Many galaxies, including the Milky Way, have an active galactic nucleus, powered by a supermassive black hole. AGN are incredibly energetic and can impact galactic evolution.
The information paradox arises from the apparent conflict between general relativity and quantum mechanics concerning what happens to information that enters a black hole.
Intelsat 33e has lost power in geostationary orbit and the satellite is no longer providing communications for customers across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia Pacific, its operator announced October 19. Intelsat 33e, also known as IS-33e, was a high throughput (HTS) geostationary communications satellite operated by Intelsat and designed and manufactured by Boeing Space Systems.
Galactic cannibalism is the concept that galaxies can merge and be consumed by larger galaxies, potentially feeding their central supermassive black holes.
Black holes can vary significantly in size, mass, and behavior. Each one's unique characteristics depend on its formation and environment.
Black holes can generate powerful jet streams of particles and radiation that extend for thousands of light-years into space.
Linked to the information paradox, the information loss problem suggests that information falling into a black hole may be lost forever, violating the principle of quantum mechanics.
Our solar system is 4.57 billion years old.
Supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies may influence the dynamics and distribution of stars in their host galaxies, shaping their evolution.
While the term "black hole" is relatively recent, ancient cultures had myths and stories that alluded to mysterious voids in the cosmos.
Quasars are associated with supermassive black holes, and their host galaxies can provide insights into the evolution of galaxies in the early universe.
The first man to conduct a spacewalk was the Soviet cosmonaut Valery Leonov. But his EVA (that’s short for Extra Vehicular Activity) nearly ended in tragedy. Leonov’s spacesuit expanded in the vacuum of space and almost got him stranded outside his spaceship Voskhod 2. Leonov could not squeeze back through the hatch and had to bleed off a lot of his precious oxygen from the suit in order to – literally – get smaller. Luckily, the cosmonaut lived to tell the tale.
Look at the starry sky at night. Isn’t it magical? But one day it will all come to an end and the Universe will get completely dark and freezing cold. There will be nothing left but dead stars, cold planets, and black holes. No life will be able to survive.
On Saturn’s moon Titan, methane lakes make floating impossible due to low density. With an oxygen supply and a warm suit, you’d have to walk along the lakebed to reach shore.
Nucleosynthesis, the process of creating heavier elements from lighter ones, occurs within stars, including those that eventually become black holes.
The formation of supermassive black holes remains a topic of active research. It is believed that they could develop through the gradual accretion of matter or through the rapid collapse of dense regions.
Luminous X-ray Binary systems involve a black hole or neutron star and a companion star, emitting intense X-rays when the companion's material is accreted by the black hole.
Accretion disks are flattened structures of gas and dust that surround a black hole, heating up and emitting intense radiation as material spirals inward.
Active galactic nuclei may have played a vital role in distributing heavy elements throughout the cosmos, enriching galaxies with elements necessary for life.
We (as a human) are closer to the size of the universe than the size of a plank length (the smallest thing we know of).
The orbits and positions of black holes in galaxies can influence the overall structure and alignment of galactic systems.
In binary black hole systems, both black holes become tidally locked, always showing the same face to one another as they orbit.
Some globular clusters contain stellar-mass black holes, potentially forming from the dense environment within these clusters.
These binary systems consist of a black hole and a star, with matter flowing from the star onto the black hole, releasing X-rays.
Intermediate-mass black holes may form through the merger of stellar-mass black holes or through the accretion of matter in dense environments.
The holographic principle is a theoretical concept that suggests the information contained within a region of space can be encoded on its boundary, raising questions about the nature of black hole event horizons.
Primordial black holes are hypothesized to have formed shortly after the Big Bang. Their existence remains speculative, but they could be a component of dark matter.
The immense gravitational pull of black holes warps and bends the paths of light rays, creating mesmerizing visual effects known as gravitational lensing.
String theory aims to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics. It has been employed to explore the behavior of black holes in the context of a theory of everything.
Black holes can influence the cosmic microwave background radiation by affecting the distribution of matter in the early universe.
The firewall paradox suggests that the region just outside a black hole's event horizon may be highly energetic, potentially leading to new insights into black hole physics.
The supermassive black hole in M87 was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope devouring material in a stunning image that made headlines worldwide.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been used to explore the possibility of creating mini black holes in high-energy particle collisions.
Dark energy is a mysterious force driving the expansion of the universe. The study of black holes could provide insights into the interplay between dark energy and gravity.
The Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 relied heavily on software. Margaret Hamilton led the team that developed the on-board flight software for the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC). This computer had only 36 KB of memory—far less than even the simplest modern apps—but its efficient code was vital for the mission's success.
Black hole thermodynamics combines general relativity with the laws of thermodynamics, providing a deeper understanding of the behavior of black holes.
Theoretical concepts suggest that black holes could be used as sources of propulsion for future interstellar travel, although this remains purely speculative.
The accretion of matter by supermassive black holes may regulate the growth of galaxies, influencing their size and shape.
Hawking points are hypothetical locations in space where Hawking radiation from black holes is concentrated, providing potential sources of energy.
Dark stars are theoretical objects that could form from primordial black holes and serve as sources of dark matter.
The mass of the earth is 5.972 × 10^24 kilograms. This is a 5 with 24 digits following.
Images and models indicate that Phobos may be a rubble pile held together by a thin crust that is being torn apart by tidal interactions. Phobos gets closer to Mars by about 2 centimeters (0.79 in) per year.
Time dilation near a black hole leads to the slowing of time relative to observers farther from the black hole, creating a stark contrast in the perception of time.
Black holes have left their mark on art, literature, music, and films, becoming iconic symbols of cosmic mystery.
Fuzzballs are hypothetical objects in superstring theory, intended to provide a fully quantum description of the black holes predicted by general relativity.
The "yes hair theorem" claims to resolve the paradox by bridging the gap between general relativity and quantum mechanics. The notion of quantum hair allows information about what goes into a black hole to come out again without violating any of the important principles of either theory.
White holes are often theorized to be time-reversed versions of black holes, expelling matter rather than capturing it.
The collision and merger of two black holes create ripples in spacetime known as gravitational waves, detected by observatories like LIGO and Virgo.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are powerful cosmic explosions, possibly resulting from the collapse of massive stars into black holes.
Organizations like NASA actively engage in educational outreach, offering valuable resources and tools to help the public understand black holes and their significance.
Supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies can engage in gravitational "tugs-of-war" with one another, potentially leading to galaxy mergers.
Some theories suggest that black holes could be gateways to other universes or dimensions, connecting with the concept of a multiverse.
Astronomers use the gravitational lensing effect of black holes to discover exoplanets, revealing their existence through temporary brightening events.
Complex computer simulations play a crucial role in understanding the behavior of black holes and the dynamics of their surroundings.
Scientists are actively searching for evidence of primordial black holes, which could unlock secrets about the early universe and dark matter.
Black hole research remains a thriving field, with future missions, observatories, and experiments set to reveal even more about these enigmatic cosmic entities.
Black holes, with their awe-inspiring gravitational forces and profound impact on the cosmos, serve as a testament to the boundless beauty and complexity of the universe. While we have made remarkable strides in understanding them, black holes continue to inspire and challenge our understanding of the universe, ensuring that the quest for knowledge and exploration remains a thrilling and enduring endeavor.
Kepler's Supernova is one of the few recorded supernovae visible to the naked eye from Earth.
The Geminids, which peak on the night between Dec 13–14 in 2024 (yes, yesterday, sorry), is considered to be one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers.
Kepler's Supernova was first observed by Johannes Kepler on October 17, 1604, and remained visible for over a year.
Kepler's supernova reached its peak brightness in late October 1604, shining brighter than any other star in the night sky.
NASA launched the Europa Clipper spacecraft on October 13, 2024, to study Jupiter's moon Europa, investigating its ice-covered ocean for potential habitability.
A supernova can light the sky up for weeks, and the massive transfer of matter and energy leaves behind a very different star.
Neutron stars give off radio waves in a steady stream or, as pulsars, in intermittent bursts.
Today, NASA announced that it has postponed the launch of its Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission, originally scheduled for spring 2025, to no earlier than September 2025, due to issues with the primary payload.
The delay of IMAP that NASA announced today, also impacts two other missions, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory and Space Weather Follow-On L-1, which were to launch as rideshares with IMAP.
The British government is funding a group of in-orbit servicing ventures to help develop ground rules for their planned rendezvous and proximity operations.
Liechtenstein became the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords Dec. 20, bringing the total number of signatories to more than half of a key United Nations body.
Apollo 8 astronauts celebrated the first Christmas in space in 1968 by orbiting the Moon and sharing a message of peace. Since then, astronauts aboard the ISS and other missions have kept the tradition alive with unique celebrations and even Christmas Eve spacewalks.
Astronauts on the ISS often receive surprise Christmas gifts delivered via supply missions. In 2013, a crew conducted a Christmas Eve spacewalk to repair the station's cooling system, showing dedication even during the holidays.
Spacecoin has successfully launched its first satellite, CTC-0, on December 21, 2024, aiming to create a decentralized space-based network that utilizes blockchain technology for secure, censorship-resistant communications.
The "Devil Comet," officially named 12P/Pons-Brooks, is a cryovolcanic comet with a history of dramatic eruptions. Its next perihelion will occur in 2024, offering a rare chance for observation.
Ceres is the closest dwarf planet to the Sun and is located in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter, making it the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system. Ceres is the smallest of the bodies currently classified as dwarf planets with a diameter of 950km.
In 2011, astronomers discovered an enormous cloud of water vapor in space, located about 12 billion light-years from Earth. This cloud contains 140 trillion times the amount of water found in all of Earth's oceans combined, making it the largest known reservoir of water in the universe.
On New Year's Day in 1801, astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres, the first and largest asteroid in the asteroid belt, marking the beginning of asteroid exploration.
The next Martian New Year will occur on December 8, 2025, according to Earth time.
Astrologically, Mars (Mangal Graha) rules 2025—a planet known for its intense, fiery energy that governs courage, ambition, and transformation. Mars is deeply connected to the fire element, representing power, passion, and progress.
In astrology, your sun sign is what motivates you from the heart and deep within.
The big three in astrology stand for sun signs, moon signs and rising signs.
Of all the zodiac signs you could be born under, the rarest is Aquarius. This rarity is due to the overlap period between January and February being the shortest astrologically, resulting in fewer people being born during this timeframe.
The zodiac was divided into 12 astrological signs, each occupying 1/12 (or 30°) of its great circle, by the Babylonians about 500 BCE.
People with a Gemini Sun sign are intelligent and perceptive. They can size up a person's character in a matter of seconds and always know who's bluffing. As a Gemini, I can confirm I am indeed intelligent 😂 and most of the rest is true too... idk how much it has to do with when I was born though... but please let me know if you have these traits as a non-Gemini person.
Your Moon sign represents your emotional self and inner world, often revealing how you process feelings and what comforts you most. It's considered just as important as your Sun sign for understanding your personality.
On the evening of 28 February 2025, all seven of the other planets in the Solar System will appear in the night sky at the same time, with Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars all lining up in a neat row – a magnificent sky feast for the eyes known as a great planetary alignment.
On 21 January 2025, six of the seven planets—Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Saturn—will align in the sky, creating a breathtaking cosmic lineup. Mercury is the only one missing from this rare celestial event! No, this is not yesterday's fact. 2025 is very cool! Also, many people asked from where you could see the 7-planet lineup. The answer is from almost everywhere. It does also depend on the weather and cloudiness of course.
Ceres may harbor a subsurface ocean.
Ceres was named after the Roman goddess of agriculture.
Eris has been measured at 2,326 ± 12 kilometres (1,445 ± 7 mi) in diameter; its mass is 0.28% that of the Earth and 27% greater than that of Pluto, although Pluto is slightly larger by volume. Both Eris and Pluto have a surface area that is comparable to that of Russia or South America.
Mark Rober sent his satellite SAT GUS in space a few hours ago. It will allow you to send a selfie to a Google Pixel phone in space, and a picture will be taken from the phone with the earth in the background, sending you a really cool space selfie back. The most amazing thing about this though, is that you can choose where the satellite takes the picture, whether it's above your house, or above your favourite travel destination.
In 2025, NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to perform a gravity assist maneuver at Mars on March 1, passing within 950 kilometers (600 miles) of the planet. This flyby will adjust Europa Clipper's trajectory, setting it on course to study Jupiter's moon Europa in 2030.
Today, the James Webb Space Telescope revealed that early "little red dot" galaxies were feeding supermassive black holes. This discovery sheds light on how black holes grew in the early universe.
SpaceX's Starship is designed to replace the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule, offering greater capacity, reusability, and cost-efficiency. It aims to support SpaceX's goal of building a city on Mars and expanding its commercial offerings.
Neutron stars, the remnants of massive stars, can spin up to 700 times per second and are so dense that a sugar-cube-sized amount of their material would weigh a billion tons on Earth.
The Waterfall Nebula – also called HH-222 – is located approximately 1,500 light years away from Earth in the Orion Molecular Cloud. The process of its formation remains a mystery. One theory is that the nebula is the result of stellar winds blowing from a young star which is hidden nearby.
Today a Chinese state-owned company performed a rocket flight aimed at testing reentry and landing burns late Saturday without announcing the outcome.
Samsung has contributed to space exploration by developing advanced semiconductors and memory chips used in satellites, helping power crucial data processing and communication systems in space.
Samsung partnered with NASA to create VR experiences that simulate space exploration, allowing users to virtually walk on the Moon and explore Mars using Samsung Gear VR technology.
Quasars are among the most dramatic objects anywhere in the cosmos. They emit prodigious amounts of energy, all due to a supermassive black hole at the heart of a galaxy. Visible far across the Universe, quasars can be used to trace both the early life of galaxies, and the properties of the intervening space.
In a unique experiment, the Texas Prickly Pear cactus was subjected to space travel conditions. It survived months without light and water, endured a rocket launch, and safely returned to Earth. However, exposure to radiation during a high-altitude balloon flight proved fatal to the cactus.
The harshest space weather can have strong effects on the magnetic system surrounding our planet, which in turn can affect satellites and interrupt GPS and radio communications.
Geomagnetic storms can disrupt power grids, satellite communications, and navigation systems on Earth.
In January 2025 (very recently), astronomers mistook SpaceX's 2018 Tesla Roadster for a new asteroid. This shows how hard it is to distinguish space debris and actual asteroids.
Most meteor showers are caused by debris from comets. When Earth moves through those debris trails, we see increased numbers of comets.
Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) typically stay for about six months, but Crew-9 astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have extended their mission to over eight months due to issues with the Starliner spacecraft.
The Apollo space suits had a hidden secret: a small "snoopy cap" inside the helmet. These caps, named after the cartoon dog Snoopy, had built-in microphones and headphones to help astronauts communicate during their moonwalks.
- Asteroid 700 Eurybia, discovered in 1910, is a Jupiter Trojan orbiting near Jupiter’s stable Lagrange point. It has quietly circled the Sun for billions of years, holding secrets of the early solar system.
- A recent study analyzed 700 Type Ia supernovae to refine the Hubble constant and understand dark energy better. This large sample is helping scientists uncover how the universe expands.
- NASA's Parker Solar Probe has reached speeds of 700,000 km/h, making it the fastest human-made object. It’s revealing new insights about the Sun by flying through the solar corona.
The Perseus Galaxy Cluster emits sound waves that, if heard by human ears, would be a deep note roughly 57 octaves below middle C. NASA recently translated these cosmic waves into audible sound for the first time.
A planet named K2-18b, located 124 light-years away, has water vapor in its atmosphere and possibly habitable conditions. Scientists think it may have an ocean beneath its thick hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
Jupiter’s moon Io experiences over 400 active volcanoes, making it the most volcanically active world in the solar system. Some eruptions shoot plumes over 300 kilometers high.
Located about 5,000 light-years away, the Boomerang Nebula is the coldest known place in the universe, with a temperature of approximately -272°C (-458°F), just one degree above absolute zero. This extreme cold is due to the rapid expansion of gas ejected from the dying central star.
Saturn's moon Enceladus has an ocean beneath its icy surface, and geysers shoot water vapor and ice particles into space. These geysers suggest the moon may have the conditions necessary for life.
Urban Sky, a company that has developed portable stratospheric balloons to perform imaging and other applications, has raised $30 million.
The Canadian Space Agency awarded a contract today to Spire Global, partnered with OroraTech, to develop a constellation of cubesats to monitor wildfires.
Our milky way is approximately 100,000 light years across. That means that it takes light 100,000 years to travel from one side of the Milky Way to the opposite side.
NASA expects to continue using electric vans to transport astronauts to the pad for Artemis missions even though the vehicles’ manufacturer is bankrupt.
A government-only version of NASA core Flight System with enhanced security and other features will be released in mid-2025.
NASA is working on a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) to set a universal time system for the Moon. This will help future missions stay synchronized as more countries and companies explore the lunar surface.
Spire Global has launched legal action to force Belgian analytics provider Kpler to complete its acquisition of the small satellite operator’s commercial ship-tracking business.
K2 Space gets $110M to boost satellite production, aiming for bigger satellites as launch costs drop.
Astronauts baked the first cookies in space aboard the ISS in 2019. Because of microgravity, the cookies took over two hours to bake instead of the usual 20 minutes on Earth.
Eutelsat is moving away from consumer broadband as Starlink’s low Earth orbit network reduces demand for geostationary satellites.
Recent research indicates that Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, experienced a "kiss-and-capture" event billions of years ago. This brief collision led to the two bodies becoming gravitationally bound, offering new insights into the dynamics of celestial bodies in the Kuiper Belt.
Ursa Major's Draper engine uses a non-cryogenic fuel, offering simplified storage and immediate use, and is designed for next-gen missiles in the U.S. Iron Dome missile-defense initiative.
Rubicon is developing a 110-newton ASCENT thruster prototype for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
The U.S. Space Force, facing limited resources and self-imposed space weapon restrictions, is struggling to keep up with China, which is advancing in space warfare with anti-satellite missiles.
Airbus is exploring a potential merger with Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space to strengthen its satellite business and improve its ability to scale new technologies in the space sector.
Kapta Space is making lightweight radar antennas using metasurface technology to track moving targets from space.
China launched a new communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit Saturday to replace the aging ChinaSat-10 spacecraft.
A Falcon 9 upper stage reentered Earth's atmosphere uncontrollably over Europe on February 19, 2025, due to a liquid oxygen leak that prevented its planned deorbit burn.
Starlink satellites are interfering with astronomy by blocking signals and causing radio noise.
In 1910, the Eiffel Tower was used to send radio signals across the Atlantic.
March 2025 will showcase two notable eclipses: a total lunar eclipse on March 14 and a partial solar eclipse on March 29. These events provide unique opportunities for observers to witness the dynamic interactions between the Earth, Moon, and Sun.
In March 2025, Saturn's rings will appear edge-on from Earth's perspective, causing them to seemingly vanish. This phenomenon occurs approximately every 13 to 16 years, offering a unique observational opportunity for astronomers.
The Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582, refined the leap year system to better align with Earth's orbit. It stipulates that a year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4, except for end-of-century years, which must be divisible by 400. For example, 2000 was a leap year, but 1900 was not.
A leap year holds exactly 527,040 minutes – 1,440 minutes more than a common year.
Without leap years, our calendar would shift by about one day every 128 years, misaligning seasons over time.
- Many massive stars exist in binary systems, and some even merge over time.
- Supernovae come in two types: one from a collapsing giant star and another from a white dwarf reigniting in a runaway reaction.
- The cosmic microwave background is slightly warmer on one side of the sky due to the motion of our galaxy through space.
NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally set to return this month after spending nine months on the ISS due to crew rotation delays.
Anduril Industries, founded by Palmer Luckey, is developing advanced AI-driven systems to improve real-time awareness and exploring new technologies to enhance space capabilities.
York Space Systems is launching five classified missions in 2025, using commercial satellite technology to support U.S. military experiments.
SpaceX's Starship Flight 8 didn’t go as planned yesterday. After a smooth launch, several engines shut down mid-flight, causing the rocket to tumble and eventually break apart over the Caribbean. This was the second test flight in a row to end in failure.
Star Catcher wants to beam solar power to satellites, giving them 5–10x more energy without extra hardware.
SpaceX got FCC approval to boost Starlink’s power, improving smartphone coverage in remote areas.
In the late 90s, Nintendo used satellite technology to broadcast Super Mario games in Japan. Players could download enhanced versions of classics like Super Mario Bros. 3 through the Satellaview, a system that connected the SNES to space!
For years, half of the universe’s ordinary matter was missing. Scientists finally found it hiding in massive, hot gas filaments stretched between galaxies.
A newly discovered 'super-Earth' orbits its star in an extreme oval-shaped path, causing it to swing between scorching heat and deep freeze every 300 days.
A total lunar eclipse will occur on March 13-14, 2025, and the moon will be cast in a deep, coppery-red hue. This eclipse will be observable from the Earth's Western Hemisphere.
The Moon is about 1/6th the size of Earth, making it the fifth-largest moon in the solar system. (Americans, be on the lookout for a total lunar eclipse tonight, as the moon will be cast in a deep, coppery-red hue.)
Crew-10 launched aboard a Falcon 9 on March 14, 2025, carrying four astronauts to the ISS—one from NASA, one from JAXA, and one from Roscosmos.
Crew-10 docked with the ISS on March 16, 2025, carrying astronauts from NASA, JAXA, and Roscosmos for a six-month mission.
The Moon goes through eight distinct phases, including New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and Third Quarter.
The Moon experiences moonquakes, which are similar to earthquakes, but they are caused by the gravitational interaction with Earth.
The Moon has volcanic features, such as the dark plains known as maria, formed by ancient volcanic activity.
The Moon has an extremely thin and tenuous atmosphere called an exosphere, composed mostly of helium, neon, and traces of other gases.
Over 100 missions have been sent to the Moon for exploration, both manned and unmanned.
The Apollo program consisted of a total of 17 missions, with Apollo 11 being the most famous.
The Moon is constantly bombarded by small meteoroids and asteroids, leaving behind craters.
A "Blue Moon" is a rare event when there are two Full Moons in a calendar month, which happens once every 2 to 3 years on average.
A Blue Moon gets its name from a 16th century expression meaning something impossible, which later shifted to describe the Blue Moons we know today.
The next Blue Moon will occur on May 31, 2026.
The Moon's atmosphere is so thin that it cannot support human life, meaning astronauts require specialized suits to survive.
J1407b, nicknamed "Super Saturn," has a ring system about 200 times larger than Saturn’s. If it replaced Saturn, its rings would appear larger than the full Moon in Earth’s sky.
In the early Solar System, Jupiter migrated inward before reversing direction, pulling Saturn along. This motion, described by the Grand Tack model, helped shape planetary orbits including Earth’s.
Kepler-22b, the first exoplanet discovered in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star, is 2.4 times Earth’s size and orbits its star every 289.9 days.
Kepler-438b is a super-Earth orbiting an M-type star. It has a mass of 1.46 Earths, completes an orbit in 35.2 days, and lies 0.166 AU from its star.
The average speed of astronauts during moonwalks was about 3.6 kilometers per hour, or 2.2 miles per hour.
Saturn's rings may have formed from a lost moon named Chrysalis, which came too close and was torn apart about 160 million years ago. Most of its material fell into Saturn, while the rest became the rings.
Moon dust is highly abrasive and can damage equipment and spacesuits because it is made of tiny, sharp-edged glass particles.
The Moon's surface contains minerals not found on Earth, such as anorthosite, which is common in the lunar highlands.
Astronauts used lunar rovers during the Apollo missions to travel several kilometers from their landing sites and explore the Moon’s surface.
The Moon has been central to myths and folklore throughout history, including the Greek goddess Selene, who represented the Moon.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station often observe the Moon from orbit, offering unique perspectives on Earth's natural satellite.
The Moon contains helium-3, a rare isotope considered a potential fuel for future fusion reactors.
China's Chang'e program has launched multiple successful lunar missions, including orbiters, landers, and rovers.
Android 15 has a hidden Easter egg featuring a mini space-explorer game where you land on planets and plant a flag, similar to the real Apollo missions. Between 1969 and 1972, six American flags were planted on the Moon, although the Apollo 11 flag was knocked over by the ascent engine during liftoff.
India's Chandrayaan-2 mission included an orbiter, a lander named Vikram, and a rover called Pragyan. The lander unfortunately failed to complete a soft landing.
Researchers are studying the possibility of using lunar dust to create solar sails, allowing spacecraft to use sunlight pressure for propulsion.
Solar flares are massive bursts of radiation released near sunspots when magnetic energy suddenly erupts.
Solar storms include solar flares and coronal mass ejections, both of which can disrupt GPS, satellites, and power grids on Earth.
Solar flares can reach temperatures of around 100 million degrees Celsius, far hotter than the Sun’s 15-million-degree core.
Coronal mass ejections can travel millions of miles per hour and typically reach Earth in about a day, though the fastest ones can arrive in as little as 15 to 18 hours.
The Carrington Event of 1859 was the most powerful geomagnetic storm ever recorded, producing global auroras and causing fires in telegraph stations.
The Sun’s activity rises and falls in an 11-year cycle, and solar cycle 25 is expected to reach its peak around 2025.
Large solar flares can release energy millions of times greater than volcanic eruptions, equivalent to billions of nuclear bombs.
Cryovolcanoes erupt cold substances like water, ammonia, or methane instead of molten rock.
The material erupted from cryovolcanoes is called cryolava, and it freezes rapidly after reaching the surface.
Cryovolcanism commonly occurs on icy moons and dwarf planets in the outer Solar System.
Cryovolcanoes are driven by internal heat sources such as tidal interactions or radioactive decay.
On dwarf planets, cryovolcanism can occur even without tidal forces from other bodies.
Enceladus has active cryovolcanic plumes that eject water vapor, ice, and organic molecules, extensively studied by the Cassini spacecraft.
The word “cryovolcano” was first introduced by Steven K. Croft in 1987.
Ceres is home to Ahuna Mons, a large icy dome believed to be a cryovolcano formed from a mixture of salt and water.
Cryovolcanic activity may hint at subsurface oceans, important in the search for extraterrestrial life.
The Moon’s gravitational pull affects Earth’s axial tilt and helps stabilise our planet’s climate.
Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission launched on April 14 2025 with an all-female crew, including Katy Perry. The crew successfully completed their trip into space later that day.
Ancient astronomers observed the Moon closely and made detailed records of its phases and eclipses.
The far side of the Moon is never visible from Earth and was first photographed by a Soviet spacecraft in 1959.
Research has shown that the Moon’s gravitational pull has subtle effects on human physiology, including sleep patterns.
The Moon can be used for timekeeping in space exploration thanks to its precise and predictable orbital motion.
Some of the gold in the universe may have formed in giant flares from magnetars, blasting out heavy elements in quantities greater than the mass of Mars.
Unlike Earth, the Moon has no global magnetic field, leaving it more exposed to solar radiation.
In controlled lunar experiments, scientists have successfully grown plants such as cotton, mustard, and potatoes.
Astronauts placed retroreflectors on the Moon during Apollo missions, allowing scientists to measure the Moon’s distance by bouncing laser beams off them.
Studying the Moon helps scientists understand how the solar wind interacts with planetary surfaces.
Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket was selected for an experimental U.S. Air Force “rocket cargo” mission, aiming to test rapid global cargo delivery, with its first launch expected no earlier than 2026.
About 1,000 days ago in August 2022, several major space events took place:
The Moon has a history of tectonic activity, leaving behind faults and fractures on its surface.
The Moon’s surface is constantly hit by tiny space rocks, gradually breaking down and wearing away its dusty, rocky ground.
The concept of a lunar space elevator has been proposed, which could significantly reduce the cost of transportation to and from the Moon.
The iconic Earthrise photo taken by Bill Anders during Apollo 8 on 24 December 1968 became a symbol of Earth’s fragility and unity, inspiring the modern environmental movement.
William Anders was a U.S. Air Force major general, engineer, and Apollo 8 astronaut, part of the first crew to leave low-Earth orbit and travel to the Moon.
During Apollo 13, the crew survived by using the Lunar Module as a lifeboat, conserving power and looping around the Moon to return safely to Earth.
The famous line “Houston, we’ve got a problem” originates from Apollo 13. The actual quote was “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” but the movie Apollo 13 popularised the version we know today.
There was never an official mission named Apollo 2. After the Apollo 1 tragedy in 1967, NASA retired the number to honour the crew.
Apollo 4 was the first uncrewed test flight of the Saturn V rocket on 9 November 1967, proving it could safely carry the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon.
Apollo 4 reached an altitude of 18 079 km (11 234 miles), and the uncrewed mission lasted 8.5 hours.
The Apollo 4 command module reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 40 100 km/h (24 917 mph) before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Apollo 5 was the first space test of the Lunar Module, proving it could fire its engine in space even without astronauts on board.
On 4 April 1968, Apollo 6 launched as the final uncrewed test of the Saturn V rocket, paving the way for astronauts to fly on Apollo 8 later that year.
Apollo 7 in October 1968 was NASA’s first crewed flight after the Apollo 1 tragedy, sending Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham to test key systems in Earth orbit.
Apollo 7 was the first U.S. spaceflight to broadcast live television from orbit, giving the public their first real-time look at astronauts working in space.
Apollo 7 was the only Apollo mission flown entirely by rookies, yet the crew completed an 11-day mission that successfully tested systems needed for Moon landings.
Neil Armstrong’s Moon suit was designed by a team from Playtex, whose experience with flexible garments helped create a more comfortable and mobile spacesuit.
Years after Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong’s widow discovered a hidden bag of spacecraft parts he had quietly kept as mementos from the mission.
Neil Armstrong carried a piece of the Wright brothers’ 1903 Flyer to the Moon, symbolically linking humanity’s first flight with the first steps on another world.
Eugene Cernan, the last person to walk on the Moon, died on 16 January 2017. He was one of fourteen astronauts selected by NASA in 1963.
During Apollo 17, Eugene Cernan broke the lunar rover’s fender with a geology hammer and repaired it using maps and tape to stop Moon dust from coating their suits and gear.
Since 2 June 2008, the Moon has completed about 227.4 orbits around Earth, traveling roughly 174.85 million km (108.65 million miles).
The universe’s expansion stretches light as it travels, causing cosmological redshift. Higher redshift means the light has traveled a greater distance.
A Krasnikov tube is a theoretical spacetime tunnel that could allow faster than light travel by warping space around a spacecraft.
A Q-ball is a hypothetical, stable configuration of scalar fields that has been proposed as a possible form of dark matter.
Quantum foam describes the idea that spacetime experiences constant tiny fluctuations at the smallest scales, giving it a frothy structure.
Cosmic strings are theoretical, one dimensional defects in spacetime that may have formed in the early universe and could affect cosmic structure formation.
8 June 2025 marked the 400th birthday of Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who discovered four of Saturn’s moons and identified the Cassini Division in Saturn’s rings.
A tachyonic field is a quantum field with an imaginary mass, creating instabilities that can trigger spontaneous symmetry breaking, such as in the Higgs mechanism.
The Hartle–Hawking state proposes that the universe began without boundaries in time or space, giving it a finite but unbounded origin.
An antimatter comet is a hypothetical comet made entirely of antimatter. None have been observed, since contact with normal matter would cause instant annihilation.
A proposed alternative to black holes is a gravitational vacuum star, with a shell of exotic matter surrounding a bubble of vacuum energy, avoiding singularities.
The Gegenschein is a faint glow directly opposite the Sun in the night sky, caused by sunlight scattering off interplanetary dust.
Earth’s magnetotail is the stretched out part of its magnetic field, shaped by the solar wind and extending millions of kilometers into space.
An object's albedo is the percentage of sunlight it reflects. Earth’s albedo is higher than the Moon’s, making the Moon appear dark from space.
The Triangulum Galaxy is also known as Messier 33, one of the closest large galaxies to the Milky Way.
The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy about 60,000 light years across, making it roughly half the width of the Milky Way.
Around 40 billion stars live inside the Triangulum Galaxy.
The Triangulum Galaxy belongs to the Local Group, which includes the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.
The Triangulum Galaxy is the third largest galaxy in the Local Group after the Milky Way and Andromeda.
The distance from Earth to the Triangulum Galaxy is roughly 3 million light years.
A huge star forming region named NGC 604 lies near the center of the Triangulum Galaxy.
The Triangulum Galaxy forms stars at a rate about ten times higher than the average rate in the Andromeda Galaxy.
The Rubin Observatory captured a 3.2 gigapixel image of the Virgo Cluster, revealing millions of stars, thousands of galaxies, and over 2100 new asteroids in a single 10 hour test shot.
The Triangulum Galaxy has a mass roughly 50 billion times that of the Sun.
The Triangulum Galaxy has a spiral shape but lacks a strong central bar structure.
Scientists think the Triangulum Galaxy’s smooth, even dust distribution means it hasn’t collided or interacted much with other galaxies.
Over half of astronauts experience space sickness due to space adaptation syndrome. NASA supplies special barf bags that seal vomit so it can't float around.
The Triangulum Galaxy is moving toward the Milky Way at about 100000 kilometers per hour, or roughly 62000 miles per hour.
The Triangulum Galaxy may be gravitationally bound to the Andromeda Galaxy and could interact with it in the future.
Samsung’s Nexus S was the first smartphone approved by NASA for spaceflight. It flew on the final Shuttle mission in 2011 to help control robotic satellites on the ISS.
The first iPhone in space was an iPhone 4 sent to the ISS in 2011 to run SpaceLab for iOS, an app used for navigation and microgravity experiments.
The ISS has its own internal wifi network for approved devices. There’s no public internet; data is routed through satellites for emails, video calls, and mission tasks.
The massive star nursery in the Triangulum Galaxy stretches over 1300 light years, making it larger than the Orion Nebula.
Some young stars in the Triangulum Galaxy can reach temperatures close to 40000 degrees Celsius, roughly 72000 degrees Fahrenheit.
3I/ATLAS, discovered just 3 days ago, is only the third known interstellar object. It’s arriving from Sagittarius at about 214000 km/h, roughly 20 km wide, and will pass the Sun in October and Earth in December while staying 270 million km away.
The most massive young stars in the Triangulum Galaxy can reach about 120 times the mass of the Sun.
Project A119 was a 1958 US plan to detonate a nuclear device on the Moon to impress the USSR. A young Carl Sagan contributed calculations to the project.
In Mario Kart 8, Rainbow Road is designed as a near-future space station operated by the fictional REXA agency, complete with satellites, solar panels, and spacecraft orbiting Earth.
The Triangulum Galaxy contains black holes with masses around 15 times that of the Sun.
The solar system is flat because the rotating cloud that formed it spun faster over time, flattening into a disk where planets formed and now orbit in nearly the same plane.
Charles Messier cataloged the Triangulum Galaxy as Messier 33 in 1764.
Under very dark skies, the Triangulum Galaxy is visible to the naked eye thanks to its apparent magnitude of 5.7.
The Triangulum Galaxy (M33) is sometimes mistaken for the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), but they are different. M33 is part of the Local Group, while M101 lies farther away in Ursa Major.
The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the night of August 12 into the morning of August 13, 2025, offering up to 100 shooting stars per hour under ideal viewing conditions.
During the shower, a bright, 86% lit waning gibbous moon will significantly wash out most meteors, meaning only the brightest meteors are likely to be visible.
The best chance to see meteors during the Perseid meteor shower is in the predawn hours, roughly between 1am and 5am local time, while facing north with the moon behind you.
The next big meteor shower will be the Orionids meteor shower, which is set to peak on the nights of October 22 and 23.
There are about 8 to 16 meteors entering the atmosphere every second.
You can sometimes hear meteors. You'd hear pops or hisses at the same moment you see them.
The largest meteorite ever found on Earth is the Hoba meteorite in Namibia, weighing about 60,000 kg.
On exoplanet HD 189773b, it rains glass sideways.
The exoplanet 55 Cancri e is made from diamonds.
Exoplanet TIC 241249530 b has one of the most stretched-out orbits ever seen.
TrES-2b is the darkest exoplanet, reflecting less than 1% of light.
KELT-9b is the hottest exoplanet, with temperatures exceeding 4,300°C (7,700°F).
An orbital resonance is when celestial bodies’ orbital periods form a simple ratio, like 2:1 or 3:2.
The exoplanets around HD 110067 are orbiting in what’s known as an orbital resonance.
SAO 206462 has spiral arms shaped by planets.
Lucy (BPM 37093) is a white dwarf with a diamond crystal core.
Vega spins so fast it’s shaped like an egg.
WR104 may supernova and point directly at Earth.
iPTF14hls exploded multiple times over several years.
MY Camelopardalis are two giant stars touching and will soon merge.
HD 140283 is almost as old as the Universe.
Kepler-444 is the oldest known solar system, at 11.2 billion years old.
K2-138 has five planets in a harmonic orbital resonance.
Upsilon Andromedae has multiple planets with unusual orbital patterns.
HOPS-315 is a young star system forming planets actively.
3I/ATLAS is an interstellar comet passing through our system.
'Oumuamua was the first interstellar object crossing our solar system.
Red Rectangle Nebula is a star-forming region with X-shaped gas.
Hoag's Object looks like a perfect cosmic doughnut.
NGC 1052-DF2 strangely lacks detectable dark matter.
Tadpole Galaxy trails a long stellar tail behind.
Antennae Galaxies merge together creating long tidal antennas.
The galaxy believed to contain the most stars is IC 1101.
The Condor Galaxy’s radius is 350,000 light-years; reevaluations show it spans about 700,000 light-years across.
Williamina Fleming, originally a maid, became a pioneering astronomer and discovered the Horsehead Nebula.
Neptune appears deep blue because methane absorbs red light and reflects blue light back into space.
Condor Galaxy may be the largest spiral galaxy, but it is not the largest galaxy known. The largest discovered galaxy is IC 1101, which has a radius of over 3 million light-years.
Mars has about 1,600 identified volcanoes, ranging from giant shield volcanoes like Olympus Mons to much smaller vents and cones.
The first animals launched into space were fruit flies, sent aboard a U.S. V-2 rocket on 20 February 1947 to study radiation exposure. They survived the trip.
The Boomerang Nebula is colder than space itself and is the coldest known natural place in the Universe.
The quasar 3C 273 contains the hottest known region in the Universe. Its accretion disk can reach temperatures around 10 trillion degrees Celsius.
The coldest known star is the brown dwarf WISE 0855−0714, with a temperature of about 250 Kelvin (around -23°C).
Mark Rober spent seven years working on hardware for NASA’s Curiosity rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory before becoming a YouTuber. His work is still operating on Mars today.
About 12 billion light-years away, astronomers found a cloud containing 140 trillion times the water in Earth’s oceans.
A gas cloud near the center of the Milky Way contains enough ethanol to brew about 400 sextillion pints of beer.
When galaxies interact, some stars can be thrown out at thousands of kilometers per second, drifting alone through intergalactic space.
Magnetars have magnetic fields strong enough to erase credit cards from thousands of kilometers away.
When some stars become white dwarfs, their carbon and oxygen cores can cool and crystallize, turning the star into something like a giant diamond.
The Crab Pulsar emits unusual radio signals created as its waves interact with and scatter through surrounding plasma.
Chinese rocket startup Orienspace has secured major new funding and is preparing a test flight of its Gravity-1 rocket from the sea-based Defu-15002 platform.
The Condor Galaxy is not a Messier object and does not have a Messier number.
A radio galaxy is a type of galaxy that emits extremely powerful radio waves, far stronger than those from normal galaxies.
Geostationary satellites stay above one spot on Earth by matching Earth’s rotation, and can only orbit above the equator.
As of 13 August 2025, there are 569 active geostationary satellites. Earlier in the year, on 3 January 2025, the count was 563.
A blood moon happens during a total lunar eclipse when Earth’s atmosphere bends red light onto the Moon, making it appear reddish.
Neil Armstrong carried a recording of Dvořák’s New World Symphony with him during the Apollo 11 mission.
Satellite connectivity on phones works by linking to low-Earth orbit satellites using a special antenna that sends compressed bursts of data.
NASA lets the public send their names on a flash drive aboard the Artemis II mission, which will orbit the Moon no earlier than April 2026.
Jupiter’s moons form a satellite system known as the Jovian system.
Perseverance has discovered a 3-billion-year-old Martian rock containing organic carbon and minerals linked to life, the strongest evidence yet of ancient life on Mars.
Jupiter was known long before recorded history, but the Babylonians were among the first to track its movements systematically about 2,800 years ago.
There is currently one artificial satellite orbiting Jupiter: NASA’s Juno spacecraft.
The Galileo spacecraft was the first to enter orbit around Jupiter, arriving in 1995 and studying the planet until 2003.
Johannes Kepler was a 17th-century astronomer who discovered the three laws of planetary motion, describing how planets orbit the Sun.
Nicolaus Copernicus revolutionized our view of the universe by showing that Earth and the planets orbit the Sun instead of everything orbiting Earth.
In 1633, Galileo was put on trial for saying the Earth moves around the Sun and was forced to recant, then kept under house arrest for the rest of his life. Despite the arrest, he kept writing.
Saturn’s moon Titan has a mysterious landmass that vanishes and reappears: it turned out to be floating chunks of frozen organic material that drift across its methane seas.
If you were exposed to space without a suit, you’d stay conscious for only about 10–15 seconds before passing out as your saliva starts to boil and your body swells from the vacuum.
Currently, the largest and heaviest artificial satellite is the International Space Station.
The diameter of Earth is ~12,756 km. Its mass is about 5.972 × 10²⁴ kg.
Mercury is the smallest and lightest planet in the Solar System, with a mass of 3.301 × 10²³ kg and a diameter of ~4,880 km.
Our Sun will never become a black hole because it’s not massive enough — only stars at least ~20× the Sun’s mass collapse that far. Instead, it will end as a white dwarf.
The Schwarzschild radius is the distance where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape. For the Sun, that radius would be only about 3 km — if its mass were squeezed into a sphere that small, it would become a black hole.
Saturn has 274 known moons — more than any other planet in our Solar System.
Phoebe, one of Saturn’s outer moons, takes about 550 days (≈ 1.5 years) to complete one orbit, making its period the longest of any Saturnian moon.
NASA has used Blender to create interactive rover experiences like Experience Curiosity and Perseverance.
NASA uses both custom 3D software like OpenVSP and Cart3D, and industry tools like CATIA and SolidWorks, to design and simulate spacecraft.
In 1968, Apollo 8 left Earth to orbit the Moon — there were rumours Russia would beat them. Three astronauts celebrated Christmas in space on that mission.
Zhúlóng is a spiral galaxy that already existed just 1 billion years after the Big Bang, far earlier than scientists previously thought possible.
The galaxy Zhúlóng was named after the mythological “Torch Dragon” in Chinese mythology: a powerful red solar dragon that opens and closes its eyes to create day and night.
Gliese 581 g was once thought to be the first potentially habitable exoplanet discovered, but its existence is now disputed. Other confirmed planets like Kepler-186f and TRAPPIST-1e are stronger candidates today.
Some people first thought 3I/Atlas might be a UFO because it came from outside the Solar System, but scientists quickly confirmed it’s a natural interstellar comet made of ice and rock.
The first confirmed exoplanet, 51 Pegasi b, was discovered in 1995. It’s a gas giant about half Jupiter’s mass, orbiting its star every 4 days at temperatures near 1,000 °C.
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is on course to visit the unusual “dark comet” 1998 KY26, which behaves like a comet but has no tail. It is expected to arrive in 2031.
Kepler-452 b was once called Earth’s closest twin, but later research suggests it’s likely too hot and too large to be habitable.
AR Cassiopeiae is a rare seven-star system where all seven stars gravitationally influence each other in a complex orbital dance.
Space adaptation syndrome, or space sickness, affects up to half of all astronauts as their bodies adjust to weightlessness shortly after reaching orbit.
Nu Scorpii is a seven-star system about 470 light years away, consisting of three close stellar pairs and one lone companion bound to them.
Saturn’s north pole contains a massive hexagon-shaped cloud pattern, with each side longer than Earth’s diameter.
The hexagon at Saturn’s north pole is caused by atmospheric winds moving at different speeds, creating a stable wave pattern with six sides.
WASP-76 b is an ultra-hot exoplanet where temperatures are so high that iron vaporizes and may condense as droplets on the cooler side.
Every crewed Apollo mission had three astronauts: a Commander, a Command Module Pilot, and a Lunar Module Pilot.
On Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong served as Commander, Michael Collins as Command Module Pilot, and Buzz Aldrin as Lunar Module Pilot.
On Apollo 17, the last crewed mission to the Moon, the crew was Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt.
The Roche limit is the distance where a planet’s gravity can tear apart a moon or comet. Saturn’s rings likely formed when a moon crossed this limit and was pulled apart.
On Earth, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is almost only produced by marine life. The discovery of DMS in exoplanet K2-18b’s atmosphere hints at the possibility of biological activity.
A polar orbit is a satellite path that passes over or near Earth’s poles, allowing coverage of the entire planet as Earth rotates.
A type Ia supernova happens in a binary system when a white dwarf gains enough mass to undergo a runaway thermonuclear explosion.
The Orionid meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through dust left behind by Halley’s Comet. These particles burn up as meteors streaking across the sky.
A new quasi-moon called 2025 PN7 has been following Earth since around 1960 and will stay with us until about 2083, orbiting the Sun almost exactly the way Earth does.
New simulations show that a faint gamma-ray glow at the Milky Way’s center matches the expected pattern of dark matter, making it a strong candidate explanation.
Over 50,000 meteorites have been found on Earth, and 99.8 percent of them come from asteroids rather than comets or other sources.
Meteors are tiny bits of rock and ice that were shed from comets as they travel through their orbits around the Sun.
The word “meteor” comes from the Greek “meteōros”, which means “high in the air”.
The farthest known star ever observed is Earendel, whose light—magnified by gravitational lensing—traveled 12.9 billion years to reach us.
Only three confirmed interstellar objects have passed through our Solar System so far: 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017, 2I/Borisov in 2019, and 3I/ATLAS most recently.
The Moon’s total surface area is about 37.9 million square kilometers, roughly the same size as Africa.
Stars appear to flicker because their light is bent and distorted by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere as it reaches our eyes.
The Taurid meteor shower is nicknamed the “Halloween fireballs” because it often produces bright, slow-moving fireballs in late October and early November.
One of the best places on Earth for stargazing is Aoraki Mackenzie in New Zealand, known for exceptionally clear views of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds.
The Magellanic Clouds are two small neighboring galaxies that orbit the Milky Way and can be seen with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere.
A satellite galaxy is a smaller galaxy that orbits a larger one due to gravity, like how the Magellanic Clouds orbit the Milky Way.
The Beijing Ancient Observatory, built in 1442 during the Ming dynasty and expanded in the Qing dynasty, is one of the oldest astronomical sites still standing.
The Milky Way contains around 60 known dwarf galaxies in its halo, though only about half are confirmed to be gravitationally bound satellites.
In summer 2024, students simulated life on a Moon base inside a Swiss mountain as part of Asclepios, a student-led space mission project.
In 2025, astronomers witnessed the brightest black hole flare ever recorded, from galaxy J2245+3743, where a star was torn apart with the power of 10 trillion Suns.
The highest possible temperature in physics is the Planck temperature, about 1.4168 × 10^32 kelvin, beyond which known physics breaks down.
The Planck length is the smallest scale anything can have, only 1.6 × 10^-35 meters. Below that, space itself stops behaving normally and physics breaks down.
Moon landing myths claim there are no stars, the flag moves, shadows look wrong, or footprints don’t match. Each point has a simple explanation: cameras couldn't capture stars, the flag moved from being twisted, uneven ground tilted shadows, and astronauts wore overshoes over their inner boots.
If Earth were flat, gravity would pull everything toward the center of the disk, making people and water slide inward. A round Earth pulls equally from all sides, keeping everything stable.
A strong solar storm can make the Northern Lights visible much farther south than usual, sometimes reaching Belgium and the Netherlands during major events.
In November 2025, astronomers watched Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) break into several pieces as it approached the Sun, giving rare insight into how comets disintegrate under heat and gravity.
The most common visible effect of space weather on Earth is the aurora, with charged particles from the Sun colliding with atoms in our atmosphere to create shimmering lights.
The earliest supernova ever recorded by humans was spotted by Chinese astronomers in 185 AD. Known today as SN 185, it shone for 8 months and its remnant is the expanding shell RCW 86, likely from a Type Ia explosion.
Sputnik 2, launched on 3 November 1957, was the second spacecraft in orbit and the first to carry a living creature, the Soviet dog Laika. She died of hyperthermia hours into the flight.
M&M’s were the first candy eaten in space. They were taken aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-3 in 1982.
Astronomers using ALMA spotted a distant galaxy forming stars about 180 times faster than the Milky Way. Wrapped in superheated dust, it hides most of its starlight yet shows how fast some early galaxies grew.
Mercury is the only planet in our solar system without a true atmosphere. It has only a thin exosphere made of scattered atoms knocked off its surface.
NASA’s Ingenuity was the first drone to fly on Mars. The air is less than 1 percent the density of Earth, so its blades had to spin extremely fast.
The James Webb Telescope spotted four spiraling dust shells around the rare Apep star system, letting scientists watch hundreds of years of stellar activity frozen in space.
Today (November 22, 2025) the Aqua satellite’s MODIS instrument captured a massive dust plume blanketing the southern Caspian Sea, obscuring much of the water surface with swirling tan clouds.
Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky.
Arcturus, or Alpha Bootis, is the third brightest star in our night sky.
A new Sentinel-6B satellite just reached orbit, using radar altimetry to measure global sea-surface height with extreme precision, extending our continuous record of sea-level changes. It now flies at about 1 336 km altitude and scans over 90 percent of Earth’s oceans.
Astronomers once thought a hidden 'Planet X' existed because Uranus and Neptune seemed to drift off their predicted paths. Later, better measurements showed those anomalies were just calculation errors, meaning no extra planet was needed.
Anything farther than about 46 billion light years from us is being carried away by the expansion of space faster than light can ever catch up. The light from those galaxies will never reach us, and every second more of the universe slips beyond our reach permanently.