SPACE FACTS

Space Facts 1.The Sun is over 300000 times larger than earth. 2.Halley’s Comet was last seen in the inner Solar System in 1986, it will be visible again from Earth sometime in 2061 (get your camera ready). 3.Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system with a surface temperature of over 450 degrees celcius. 4.Many scientists believe that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago. 5.The Solar System formed around 4.6 billion years ago. 6.The Moon appears to have more craters and scars than Earth because it has a lot less natural activity going on, the Earth is constantly reforming its surface through earthquakes, erosion, rain, wind and plants growing on the surface, while the moon has very little weather to alter its appearance. 7.Saturn isn't the only ringed planet, other gas giants such as Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have rings, they are just less obvious. 8.Footprints and tyre tracks left behind by astronauts on the moon will stay there forever as there is no wind to blow them away. 9.In 2006, astronomers changed the definition of a planet. This means that Pluto is now referred to as a dwarf planet. 10.Because of lower gravity, a person who weighs 100kg on earth would only weigh 38kg on the surface of Mars. 11.The only planet that rotates on its side like a barrel is Uranus. 12.Some of the fastest meteoroids can travel through the solar system at a speed of around 42 kilometres per second (26 miles per second). 13.The first man made object sent into space was in 1957 when the Russian satellite named Sputnik was launched. 14.Jupiter's 4 biggest moons are named Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and Io. 15.It is because of the Sun & Moons gravity that we have high & low tides.