Science & TechnologyOCT 28, 2022

50 Interesting Solar System Facts Scientists Have Learned So Far

Neilas Šurkus and Violeta Lyskoit

#1 You Could Fit All The Planets In Our Solar System Between Earth And The Moon

At apogee, when the Moon is farthest from the Earth, it's about 398,000 km surface-to-surface.

If we align the planets through their polar axes, they add up to a total distance of 364,799 km.

Phil Plait, nasa.gov

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27points

#2 Sunsets On Mars Would Appear Blue To Human Eyes

solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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27points

#3 Saturn's Moon Titan Is The Only Known Place In Our Solar System Other Than Earth That Has A "Liquid Cycle"

It is the sole other place in the Solar System known to have an earthlike cycle of liquids raining from clouds, flowing across its surface, filling lakes and seas, and evaporating back into the sky (akin to Earth’s water cycle).

unknown, nasa.gov

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25points

#4 Neptune Is The Only Planet In Our Solar System Not Visible To Our Naked Eye And The First Predicted By Mathematics Before Its Discovery

solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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23points

#5 Unless Disturbed, The Footprints On The Moon Will Remain There For Millions Of Years

unknown, nasa.gov

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22points

#6 Jupiter's Moon Io Is The Most Volcanically Active Body In The Solar System

solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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20points

#7 You Can Grow Up To 5 Centimeters In Space

nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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20points

#8 About 13630 Satellites Were Placed Into Earth Orbit

There is about 8850 of those satellites still in space, while about 6700 is still operational.

esa.int, nasa.gov

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20points

#9 There Are Five Dwarf Planets In Our Solar System: Pluto, Ceres, Makemake, Haumea And Eris

solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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19points

#10 Neptune's Winds Can Reach Speeds Of More Than 1200 Mph (2000kph)

solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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19points

#11 The Sun Is Predicted To Be A Little Less Than A Half Through Its Lifespan

The Sun will eventually run out of energy, like all stars do.

When it starts to die, the Sun will expand into a red giant star, becoming so large that it will engulf Mercury and Venus, and possibly Earth as well.

solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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19points

#12 Pluto Has Mountains

solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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18points

#13 Uranus' Moon Miranda Has The Weirdest Surface Features Seen On A Moon

It has giant fault canyons as much as 12 times as deep as the Grand Canyon, terraced layers and surfaces that appear very old, and others that look much younger.

solarsystem.nasa.gov, nasa.gov

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18points