Did You Know: Space – What are Saturn’s rings made of? When you look at Saturn through a telescope, you can see beautiful rings circling the planet. They are made of icy rock and dust. No one knows for sure why Saturn has rings. They may be the remains of a moon that was destroyed … Read more
Did You Know: Space – Is there life on Mars? Long ago, Mars was warmer and wetter than it is now, with a thicker atmosphere, or layer of gas, surrounding the planet. This means there could once have been life on it. There may even be tiny life forms there today. Olympus Mons The largest … Read more
Did You Know: Space – Why is Jupiter striped? Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system. It has several stripes, or bands, of different colors. These bands are caused by chemicals in Jupiter’s clouds and also by winds that whip around the planet, moving in different directions. Rapid rotation Jupiter is the fastest … Read more
Did You Know: Space – Why is there life on Earth? Earth is at just the right distance from the sun for it to be not too hot and not too cold for life to exist. This is called the habitable zone. Our planet also has all the ingredients needed for life to begin and … Read more
Did You Know: Space – What are planets made of? In our solar system, the four inner rocky planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—have solid surfaces that you could walk on. The surfaces of the two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, and the two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, aren’t solid, and you could not walk … Read more
Did You Know: Space – What is the solar system? The solar system is our home in the universe. It is made up of our sun at the center, with planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets orbiting around it. Our solar system is just one of many similar systems in space. Asteroids Asteroids are lumps … Read more
Did You Know: Space – Can you scream in space? In space, nobody can hear you scream. This is because it is a vacuum, which means that there is no air. Sound can’t travel through a vacuum. When astronauts are inside a spacecraft, they can talk and hear sounds because there is air in the … Read more
Did You Know: Space – What is an orbit? An orbit is a path that one object in space takes around another. In the solar system, the Earth and all the other planets orbit around the sun. Also, many planets, including the Earth, have moons that orbit around them. What keeps the moon in orbit? … Read more
Did You Know: Space – How cold is it in space? In the huge areas between the stars and galaxies, space can get very, very cold. In these regions, the temperature can drop as low as -454ºF (-270ºC). However, the objects in space, such as stars and planets, can be lots of different temperatures. Do … Read more
Did You Know: Space – How big is the universe? The universe is really, really, really big! It is so huge that it is difficult to imagine the size of it. Our sun, which is the biggest object in our solar system, is like a speck of dust when compared with the vastness of the … Read more
