Amazing solar system facts.
It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for sunlight to reach the Earth.
The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love. It is the brightest planet in the night sky and the only planet to be named after a female.
The densest planet in our solar system is our own Earth. The least dense is Saturn. If all the planets were placed in a massive ocean, only Saturn would float.
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The atmosphere on Mars is almost entirely made up of carbon dioxide.
Around 60 tons of cosmic dust falls down to Earth from outer space every day. Every breathing organism inhales some of this ancient dust, which long ago may have formed a star or a planet.
The earth spins around the sun at 66,480 miles/h (107,000 km/h). It takes a year to travel completely around, a distance of 584 million miles (940 million kilometers).
The day Saturday is named after the planet Saturn, which in turn was named after the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn.
The distance from the Earth to the sun is 92 million miles (146 million km). Even at the incredible speed of light, it takes 8 minutes for the sun's light rays to reach us once they leave the sun.
Mars has the tallest mountain known in our solar system, known as Olympus Mons. The mountain rises a whopping 16.8 miles (or 27 kilometers).
The first living creature in outer space was a female Samoyed husky dog named Laika. She was launched aboard the Russian spacecraft Sputnik 2 on November 3rd, 1957.
The first man in space boarded the Russian spacecraft Vostok 1 in April 12, 1961 with a 50-50 chance of survival. The spacecraft orbited the earth for one hour and 48 minutes and returned successfully.
Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. The surface temperature on Venus is a burning 461.85 °C (863.33 °F). On Pluto it is so cold that liquid nitrogen turns to solid! Pluto's estimated surface temperature is around -228°C (-378°F).
The first person to pay for visiting outer space is Dennis Tito. His one week trip to the International Space Station cost 20 million dollars, and was courtesy of the Russians. NASA wasn't thrilled.
The planet Venus is the only planet named after a female; it was named after the Roman goddess of love. It is so similar in size, weight and composition that it is sometimes called the Earth's twin.
Dust storms sometimes cover the planet of Mars for months at a time. The storms, powered by solar heating, can envelop the entire planet in just days.
Earth's gravity field extends well into outer space. It's strong enough to keep our moon in place, and will eventually pull back all the satellites we have launched into orbit.
