10 Surprising Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About The Universe

For many of us, facts about the universe have always been fascinating. The term “universe” refers to the collection of all things that exist in space. The universe consists of billions of stars, galaxies, black holes, massive gas clouds, and other fascinating stuff. So, let’s just check out these 10 top facts about our solar system and beyond!

1. The footprints will remain on the moon for the next 100 million years.

There is no atmosphere on the moon, there is no wind to erode the surface and no water to wash away the footprints. As a result, the footprints of the Apollo astronauts will be there for millions of years.

2. Pluto is smaller than Australia.

Pluto is smaller than Australia. Walking around Pluto’s equator would take the same amount of time if you walked from London to Denver.

3. There is no sound in space.

There is no atmosphere in space. Therefore, sound has no medium or route to travel.  Astronauts use radios to communicate when in outer space since radio waves can still be delivered and received.

4. There are way too many stars.

There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all of Earth’s beaches combined. That’s at least a billion trillion!

5. Mercury‘s days are long!

On Mercury, a day lasts longer than a year! Mercury orbits the sun faster than any other planet. Its year is equal to 88 Earth days. A day on Mercury lasts 176 Earth days!

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6. There is water in space.

Astronomers have discovered a massive water vapor cloud about 10 billion light-years away. It contains 140 trillion times the mass of water in the Earth’s seas. It is the largest body of water ever discovered.

7. There are echoes of the Big Bang.

The cosmic microwave background is tiny echoes left behind from the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. The sound of the  Big Bang explosion hovers around the universe.

8. There is a planet made of Diamonds!

There is a planet twice the size of Earth composed of diamonds. The “super-earth,” also known as 55 Cancri e, is coated in graphite and diamond. A visit to that planet would most likely pay for the $12 million space suit required to get there!

9. You can see the past in the sky.

The stars we see in the night sky are extremely far away from us, and the light from those stars has traveled a tremendous distance across space to reach our sight. We are witnessing how the stars appeared in the past when we look at the night sky.

10. Our Solar System’s Biggest Mountain is on Mars.

Olympus Mons is the tallest mountain on any of the Solar System’s planets. It is located on Mars. It is a massive shield volcano, measuring 26 kilometers tall and 600 kilometers wide. The peak is almost three times the height of Mount Everest.

How many of these universe facts did you know? Let us know in the comments!