10 AMAZING FACTS YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT SPACE

There is so much we don't know about space, our solar system, and the universe!

Space is huge. With billions of galaxies, stars, and planets in our own solar system still to be fully discovered or understood.

Scientists' knowledge of space is constantly evolving.  However, there are some extremely fascinating things we know about space right now!  We've made a list of ten fantastic facts that we hope you'll believe are out of this world! 

1. ONE MILLION EARTHS CAN FIT INSIDE THE SUN

The Sun is huge enough that around 1.3 million Earths could fit within (if crushed in) or 960,000 Earths could fit if the Earths preserved their spherical shape. But can you imagine how many Earths there are?

2. SPACE IS ENTIRELY SILENT

Because there is no atmosphere in space, sound has no medium or method to travel to be heard.

3. THE MASS OF THE SUN COMPRISES 99.86% OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

With a mass approximately 330,000 times that of Earth, the Sun accounts for 99.86% of the mass in our solar system. Did you know that the Sun is composed primarily of hydrogen (three-quarters of its mass), with helium accounting for the remainder? 

4. THE HOTTEST PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM IS 450° C

Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, with an average surface temperature of roughly 450° C. Did you know that Venus is not the nearest planet to the sun?  That is Mercury.  You'd assume Mercury would be the hottest, but it lacks an atmosphere (which regulates temperature), resulting in large fluctuations.

5. A COMPLETE NASA SPACE SUIT COSTS $12,000,000

While the full suit costs $12 million, the backpack and control module account for 70% of that. The space suits used by NASA, on the other hand, were constructed in 1974.  If these were priced now, they would cost almost $150 million!

6. A DIAMOND PLANET EXISTS

The "super earth," called 55 Cancri e, is most likely covered in graphite and diamond.  A visit to that planet would definitely pay for the $12 million space suit required to get there!

7. THERE ARE MORE TREES ON EARTH THAN STARS IN THE MILKY WAY

There are approximately three trillion trees on Earth and 100-400 billion stars in the galaxy.

8. A DAY ON VENUS IS LONGER THAN A YEAR

Venus has a sluggish axis rotation that takes 243 Earth days to complete one day. Venus's orbit around the Sun is 225 Earth days, making a year on Venus 18 days shorter than a day on Venus.

9. MARS' SUNSET APPEARS BLUE

Sunsets on Mars would appear bluish to human observers watching from the red planet, just as colors are made more dramatic in sunsets on Earth. Fine dust increases the visibility of the blue near the Sun's area of the sky, whereas normal daylight increases the visibility of the Red Planet's distinctive rusty dust color.

10. THERE ARE MORE STARS IN THE UNIVERSE THAN GRAINS OF SANDS ON EARTH

Because the universe extends far beyond our own galaxy, The Milky Way, scientists can only guess how many stars are out there.  Scientists estimate that the universe includes around 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, or a septillion.   While no one can count every single grain of sand on the planet, experts at the University of Hawaii believe that there are somewhere around seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains.