Did You Know: Space – Why does the moon change its shape? The moon can be seen in the night sky from almost anywhere on Earth. Sometimes it is a bright, round circle, and other times it is a crescent shape. The moon itself isn’t really changing, it just looks different from Earth. This is … Read more
Did You Know: Space – How hot is the sun? The sun is a sizzling ball of gas. It is our closest star and the hottest thing in our solar system. If you were able to stick a thermometer on its surface, it would read a scorching 11,000°F (6,000°C). The hottest part of the sun, … Read more
Did You Know: Space – Is Pluto a planet? For many years Pluto was known as a planet, but this is no longer the case. Pluto is now called a dwarf planet. It is much smaller than other planets, but it does still have a lot in common with them—it is round, has moons, and … Read more
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
