stackyFACTS
Transport

How solar wind can strip a planet bare

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

The sun is not just a passive source of light; it is a relentless hose of supercharged plasma violently blasting everything in the solar system. This solar wind constantly slams into planets, and if a world lacks a magnetic field to deflect it, the plasma literally strips away the atmosphere molecule by molecule. It is a terrifying cosmic erosion process that leaves vulnerable planets as barren, airless rocks.

How solar wind can strip a planet bare
STACKY / Transport
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

Transport →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
Your drinking water may have come from comets
Transport

Your drinking water may have come from comets

The early Earth was a molten, incredibly hostile rock with absolutely zero drinking water. We likely got our oceans through intense cosmic bombardment.…

Discover more
The scratch pad inside an astronaut’s helmet
Transport

The scratch pad inside an astronaut’s helmet

Having an itch on your nose while wearing a pressurized bubble is pure torture. Engineers brilliant enough to land humans on another celestial body duct-taped…

Discover more
The fragile tiles that shielded space shuttles from reentry heat
Transport

The fragile tiles that shielded space shuttles from reentry heat

Reentering Earth looks peaceful from outside—a glowing streak lines the sky—but for the shuttle, it was like diving into a furnace ten times hotter than…

Discover more
The space planes meant to fly New York to Tokyo in an hour
Transport

The space planes meant to fly New York to Tokyo in an hour

Space planes were once the dream machines that promised to redraw the world map. Half airplane, half rocket, these hybrids aimed to launch travelers into the…

Discover more
NASA borrows planets' momentum to send probes farther
Transport

NASA borrows planets' momentum to send probes farther

Rockets simply can't carry enough heavy fuel to reach the outer solar system. Instead, scientists perform interplanetary theft. By flying a probe dangerously…

Discover more
Earth is currently surrounded by millions of pieces of high-speed space junk orbiting our planet, ranging from dead satellites and discarded rocket stages to literal bags of…
Transport

Earth is currently surrounded by millions of pieces of high-speed space junk orbiting our planet, ranging from dead satellites and discarded rocket stages to literal bags of…

Earth is currently surrounded by millions of pieces of high-speed space junk orbiting our planet, ranging from dead satellites and discarded rocket stages to…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store