10 Fascinating Solar System Facts

Hypothetical Planet Nine

Objects in the Kuiper Belt suggest a large body, possibly a Neptune-sized planet or a primordial black hole, influences their orbits. Its existence remains unconfirmed.

Venus’s Past Oceans

Venus may have had lakes and oceans, resembling Earth, before toxic gases and warming turned it arid. Scientists study its clouds for clues about its history.

Titan’s Methane Rain

Saturn’s moon Titan has liquid methane lakes and seas. Rainfall, occurring roughly every 1,000 years, can be meters deep, carving river channels. Recent summer rain was observed at its North Pole.

Moon’s Metal Anomaly

A massive metal deposit, five times the size of Hawaii, lies under the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken basin, a 1,200-mile-wide crater formed 4 billion years ago, possibly from an asteroid’s iron-nickel core.

Rust on the Moon

Iron oxide (rust) was found on the Moon, despite no oxygen or liquid water. Earth’s magnetotail shields the Moon from solar wind hydrogen, allowing oxidation during its orbit.

Mars’s Hidden Water

Evidence suggests Mars has a subsurface ocean, potentially more water than Earth’s oceans, locked beneath its crust, indicating a wetter past.

Io’s Volcanic Activity

Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system, with lava lakes and eruptions driven by Jupiter’s gravitational pull, creating a hellish landscape.

Uranus’s Tilted Axis

Uranus’s 98-degree axial tilt causes extreme seasons, with each pole facing the Sun for nearly a quarter of its 84-year orbit, leading to unique atmospheric patterns.

Pluto’s Ice Dunes

Pluto’s surface features methane ice dunes, formed by winds despite its thin atmosphere, revealing dynamic geological processes.

Mercury’s Diamond Layer

Mercury may have a 10-mile-thick diamond layer between its core and mantle, formed from a carbon-rich magma ocean under high pressure and heat.