7 surprising facts about space

April 24, 2025

Images: Shutterstock

Space is vast and mysterious—from stars to blackholes, it is a fascinating thing to study. Here are 7 things about space that can surprise you. 

You heard that right. Russia’s surface area is around 17.1 million square kilometers (km²), while Pluto’s is approximately 16.7 million km². 

Source: vernonmorningstar.com

Russia is bigger than Pluto

Astronauts have reported that space has a distinct odor, often described as a mix of gunpowder, almonds, burnt steak or welding fumes. 

Space has a smell

Source: space.com

The Moon is as much as 238,855 miles (384,400 km) away from the Earth. This distance can fit over 30 Earths.

Source: spaceplace.nasa.gov

Earth and moon

As many as 1 million Earths could fit inside the Sun—that’s how big it is. The sun makes up for 99.86% of the total mass of our solar system!

Source: science.nasa.gov

Sun's mass

Earth constantly receives space dust, with tonnes of it falling on its surface every single day. Some of this might even settle on us without us noticing. 

Source: astronomy.com

Cosmic dust

As much as we would like to believe that stars twinkle, they actually don’t. The twinkling is an optical illusion caused by the Earth's atmosphere. 

Source: skyatnightmagazine.com

Stars don’t twinkle

A neutron star, which is created by a gravitational collapse, is so dense that a teaspoon of its material weighs more than 900 Pyramids of Giza. 

Source: sciencedirect.com

Neutron stars are dense

6 biggest science facilities in the world

Thanks for reading!

See next

Read Now