Fun Facts
Amazing Solar System Projects You Can Build Yourself

Mars looks red because there is a lot of iron oxide on the surface—this means Mars is basically covered in rust!

Jupiter has 63 moons, the largest number of moons of all the planets in the solar system. These include Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

All four of the Jovian planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have rings around them. Saturn’s rings are just the biggest and most noticeable.

The dark spots that make up the face of the “Man in the Moon” are created by the difference in the reflection of sunlight between the maria and the highlands. Other cultures see these spots as forming other images, such as a rabbit or a frog.

When the solar wind hits the earth’s magnetic field near the North or South Poles, the electrically charged parcticles (called ions) react with the magnetic field, giving off waves of light called the Aurora Borealis, (Northern Lights) and the Aurora Australis, (Southern Lights). You may have seen these phenomenons at night if you live or visit far enough north or south.

The largest known impact crater in the solar system is the South Pole-Aitken basin crater on the moon. It is over 1,500 miles across.

The largest mountain on Mars, Olympus Mons, is an extinct volcano. Olympus Mons is three times as tall as Mount Everest is on Earth.

In March 2007, the New Horizons probe traveled at a velocity of 54,000 miles per hour. This makes it the fastest spacecraft ever launched by humans.

The first successful Mars rover, the Mars Pathfinder, which landed on Mars in 1997, was named Sojourner. It was named for the African American abolitionist, Sojourner Truth.

The SN1054 Supernova exploded in the year 1054, and was bright enough to be seen in daylight. Arab, Chinese, and Anasazi astronomers recorded its appearance. The cloud left over from its explosion is now known as the Crab Nebula.