Shocking Facts About The Universe You'll Probably Think Is Not True

1.An Asteroid Might Hit The Earth in 2029

The greatest chance so far, according to astronomers, of a large asteroid colliding with the earth and wiping life out is in 2029. Asteroids have hit the planet before, and caused mass extinctions, so there is some precedent for it happening again.

2.  Neutron Stars Are Very, Very Heavy

What exactly is a neutron star, you might be wondering? Well, neutron stars are the densest object known in the universe. They are created inside large stars during a supernova explosion. When the core of the star collapses, electron and proton pairs get crushed down into neutrons.

3. We Are Made Out of Stars

Human beings are literally made out of star stuff. Almost all of the chemical elements that make up a person come from the stars. Any element heavier than hydrogen originated in the stars, and we are definitely composed of more than hydrogen.

4. One Million Earths Could Fit Inside The Sun

Even though there are a lot of stars out there, none is more important to us than our own sun. When compared to other stars, it’s fairly small, classified as a G2 dwarf star. But that doesn’t mean we're complaining. Approximately one million Earths could fit inside this dwarf star. It might not be the largest star in the universe, but it gets the job done as far as sustaining life on Earth goes.

5.  The Biggest Mountain in Our Solar System Is on Mars

Sorry Mount Everest -- you’re not the king of the solar system. That honor belongs to Olympus Mons, a massive mountain on our planetary neighbor, Mars. Olympus Mons is a giant mound of red dirt and rock. This volcanic behemoth is 2,400 meters, or 80,000 feet tall, which makes it almost 15 miles high. Everest is a mere dwarf in comparison. This giant Martian volcano is either a mountain climber’s wildest dream, or worst nightmare.

6. The Earth Is Billions of Years Old

Our planet has been around for quite some time. It’s been around, in fact, for about 4.54 billion years, give or take 0.02 billion years. Life has only been on the planet for a short amount of time, but the variety of life that has crawled, slithered, swam and trod upon the planet is pretty spectacular -- from single celled organisms, to giant sharks and snakes, to dinosaurs, to mammals. If that comet coming in 2029 (and again, in 2036) misses the planet, hopefully we’ll thrive here for a long time to come.