The solar system is a bizarre place with its alien planets, mysterious moons and strange phenomena that are so out-of-this-world they elude explanation. Scientists have discovered ice-spewing volcanoes on Pluto, while Mars is home to a truly "grand" canyon the size of the United States. There may even be a giant, undiscovered planet lurking somewhere beyond Neptune. Read on to find out some of the strangest facts about planets, dwarf planets, comets and other incredible objects around the solar system.
1.Mars has the biggest volcano
NASA
Olympus Mons is a very large shield volcano on the planet Mars. The volcano has a height of over 21 km as measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter. Olympus Mons is about two and a half times Mount Everest's height above sea level.
2.Mars also has the longest valley
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Valles Marineris is a system of canyons that runs along the Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than 4,000 km long, 200 km wide and up to 7 km deep, Valles Marineris is one of the largest canyons of the Solar System, surpassed in length only by the rift valleys of Earth.
3. Venus has super-powerful winds
ESA
Scientists have found that its upper winds flow 50 times faster than the planet's rotation. The European Venus Express spacecraft (which orbited the planet between 2006 and 2014) tracked the winds over long periods and detected periodic variations. It also found that the hurricane-force winds appeared to be getting stronger over time.
4.Mercury is still shrinking
NASA/JHUAPL/Carnegie Institution of Washington/DLR/Smithsonian Institution
It's small, it's hot, and it's shrinking. Surprising new NASA-funded research suggests that Mercury is contracting even today, joining Earth as a tectonically active planet. It's small, it's hot, and it's shrinking.
5.There may be a huge planet at the edge of the solar system
Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
In January 2015, California Institute of Technology astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown announced – based on mathematical calculations and on simulations – that there could be a giant planet lurking far beyond Neptune. Several teams are now on the search for this theoretical "Planet Nine," which could take decades to find (if it's actually out there.)
6.Neptune radiates more heat than it gets from the sun
NASA/JPL
Neptune is far away from Earth, and you can bet that scientists would love to get another spacecraft out there sometime soon. Perhaps today's technology could better answer some Neptunian mysteries, such as why the blue planet is giving off more heat than it receives. It's bizarre, considering that Neptune is so far away from the faint sun.
7.Jupiter has more heavy elements (proportionally) than the sun
NASA, ESA and A. Simon
If Jupiter had only a solar abundance of heavy elements, this value would be 6 Earth masses. This means that, averaged throughout the planet, Jupiter is enriched in heavy elements over solar abundances by a factor of 1.5 to 6. ... Hydrogen and helium compose about 90% of Jupiter's mass.
8.Uranus has a very battered moon
NASA
One of the most bizarre moons in the outer solar system is Miranda, which, unfortunately, we saw only once when Voyager 2 passed by it in 1986. This moon of Uranus has bizarre features on its surface, with sharp boundaries separating ridges, craters and other things. It is possible that the moon could have had tectonic activity, but how that happened on a body with a diameter of 500 km is a mystery.
9.Saturn has a two-tone moon
NASA
Saturn's moon Iapetus is a study in contrasts, with a very dark hemisphere and a very light hemisphere. It's unlike anything else in the solar system and has sparked speculation as to what is really going on.
Some scientists believe that particles from Phoebe (another, darker moon) may be falling on its surface. Others speculate that it's due to volcanic eruptions of hydrocarbons, which would create dark patches.
10.Saturn has a hexagonal-shaped storm
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Hampton University
Saturn's hexagon is a persisting hexagonal cloud pattern around the north pole of the planet Saturn, located at about 78°N. ... It rotates with a period of 10h 39m 24s, the same period as Saturn's radio emissions from its interior. The hexagon does not shift in longitude like other clouds in the visible atmosphere.
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