26Astronaut Scent in Space
When astronauts perform spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS), compounds from space adhere to their suits, causing a distinct scent when they return to the station. The smell is so unique that NASA collaborated with a top fragrance maker to recreate the odor for training simulations.
27. The asteroid belt is fragmented and unable to coalesce into a planet due to the gravitational effects of Jupiter, which disrupts the asteroids and makes them collide with each other, thus preventing them from forming a larger celestial body.
28. The largest preserved impact crater in our solar system is located on the far side of the moon. Beneath it lies an "anomaly" of heavy metal roughly the size of Hawaii, which apparently affects the moon's gravitational field.
29. In 1964, Bell Labs constructed a large space antenna. During testing, two of their scientists encountered persistent "interference" that could not be isolated. After multiple attempts to resolve the issue, they determined that the "noise" was, in fact, a remnant hum from the Big Bang. As a result, they went on to win the Nobel Prize.
30. Earth Trojans are two asteroids that share our orbit, leading us around the Sun.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Low-Density "Super Puffs"
There are planets outside our solar system that are so low in density that they are called "super puffs."
32. We are currently in the Stelliferous Era, which is the age when stars are continuously formed throughout the universe. Eventually, all stars will burn out, leading to the Black Hole Era followed by the Dark Era, where there will no longer be any light in the universe.
33. On March 22nd, 1989, a sub-kilometer-sized asteroid called 581 Asclepius came within 500,000 miles of colliding with Earth. The impact would have released energy equivalent to a 600-megaton atomic bomb. The asteroid was discovered nine days after its closest approach to Earth.
34. There is a supermassive black hole named TON 618 that is 140 trillion times more luminous and 66 billion times more massive than the Sun. It contains more mass than the entire Milky Way galaxy.
35. Scientists believe there is a ninth planet in our solar system that is roughly ten times larger than Earth. Although they haven't been able to locate it yet, its existence is inferred from its gravitational effects on other objects. Current estimates suggest it is approximately 15 to 20 times further from the sun than Pluto, with an orbit lasting 10,000 to 20,000 years.
