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00:00 Hold on to your helmets, it's about to get weird.
00:03 This is Unveiled, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 strangest things in our
00:08 solar system. For this list, we're looking at the most unusual objects and phenomena in our
00:14 busy and bizarre solar system. We'll be excluding Earth even though it's probably the strangest of
00:19 the lot, as it's also the most familiar. 20. Hyperion, the Sponge Moon
00:25 Behold! The loofah of the gods! One of several bizarre satellites around Saturn,
00:30 Hyperion is shaped like a potato, which gives it an irregular, chaotic rotation.
00:35 However, what really makes the moon stand out is its sponge-like appearance. Deep craters
00:41 pockmark its surface, and so far, no one knows why. At least, not for sure. It may be due to
00:47 the fact that the moon is mostly composed of water ice and has an extremely low density,
00:52 so low it would actually float in water. Its porous nature means that its surface gravity
00:57 is relatively weak, allowing dislodged material to just drift away into space.
01:02 19. Uranus's Tilt Uranus is notable for its blue-green color and
01:08 narrow, almost invisible rings. But what's strangest is the ice giant's extremely unusual
01:13 axial tilt. Its axis of rotation is tilted so far that it's basically spinning sideways around the
01:19 sun, with its north and south poles where you'd expect the equator to be. For this reason, during
01:24 its orbit, each pole experiences 42 Earth-years of sunlight, followed by the same duration of
01:29 darkness. Researchers believe the extreme tilt may be the result of a massive collision billions
01:34 of years ago. 18. Mercury's Shrinking Surface
01:39 How big is Mercury? Well, that all depends on when you ask. Mercury is actually shrinking,
01:46 leaving behind long, curving escarpments like wrinkles on its surface. The cause of the planet's
01:52 shrinkage? Well, before you ask, no, Mercury did not take a dip in a cold pool. Although,
01:57 cooling off does have something to do with it. Mercury's core occupies most of its volume. As
02:02 it cools, the surface shrivels like a raisin. Images from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft have
02:07 revealed the planet continues to contract today. It doesn't really seem fair. Mercury is already
02:13 the smallest planet in the solar system. Then again, at least it's still a planet, unlike poor
02:18 Pluto. 17. Martian Supermountain Olympus Mons
02:22 When it comes to strange and spectacular, we would argue that size does matter. Rising 72,000 feet
02:30 over Mars' surface, Olympus Mons is a shield volcano that's two and a half times the height
02:35 of Mount Everest. Imagine standing at the bottom looking up. This thing makes Earth's mountains
02:40 seem like they're not even trying. The product of thousands of lava flows, Olympus Mons is a
02:45 testament to Mars' more geologically active past. It's not the Red Planet's only supersized feature.
02:51 Its canyon system Valles Marineris dwarfs the Grand Canyon, running for 2,500 miles and reaching
02:58 depths of 23,000 feet. So when can we visit Mars already? Come on, Elon!
03:05 16. Haumea, the Tumbling Cigar Moon We've only just begun to explore beyond
03:10 Neptune in the circumstellar disk known as the Kuiper Belt. Like the asteroid belt between Mars
03:15 and Jupiter, the Kuiper Belt is made up of numerous bodies that range in size from dust
03:19 particles to minor planets. One of the strangest is Haumea, a dwarf planet that spins so fast,
03:25 its shape has elongated to resemble a cigar or football. Discovered in 2004, it completes one
03:31 rotation every four hours, making it the fastest spinning large object in the solar system. It also
03:37 has its own ring system and two moons, leading researchers to speculate that it was born from
03:42 a giant collision. Sometimes a cigar isn't just a cigar.
03:46 15. Iapetus' Light and Dark Sides We already covered one of Saturn's strange
03:52 satellites, but it gets even weirder than giant sponges. Just like the Force, the planet's third
03:57 largest natural satellite, Iapetus, has a light and dark side. When we talk about our own moon's
04:02 dark side, we just mean the side that we don't see from Earth. But Iapetus' sides are actually
04:08 different colors. One is white and reflective, while the other is reddish-brown. Scientists
04:13 think the dark material initially came from meteor debris. As if that's not weird enough,
04:18 the icy moon has a squashed shape and equatorial ridge that make it look a lot like a walnut.
04:23 14. Venus, Earth's Hellish Twin Venus' infernal, scorched surface is often
04:29 compared to hell. Sulfuric acid clouds shroud the planet, and hot winds scour lifeless barren
04:35 deserts. If you stepped out onto the surface, you would be crushed by the dense air pressure
04:40 and burn up in searing temperatures of close to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet Venus is also a lot
04:45 like Earth, and could be a prophetic image of our future. It's similar to Earth in size,
04:50 composition, and proximity to the sun, and billions of years ago might have harbored
04:55 liquid water on its surface, until a runaway greenhouse effect cooked the planet.
05:00 13. The Oort Cloud When you picture our solar system,
05:04 you might imagine the sun and planets floating through a vast sea of empty space. Well, we're
05:09 actually wrapped inside a bubble of trillions of icy planetesimals. Kind of comforting in a way,
05:15 we guess? The Oort Cloud remains theoretical, located far beyond reach of the sun's solar wind.
05:21 However, it's still subject to the sun's gravitational influence, and hence part of
05:25 the solar system according to one definition. It's thought that the cloud is the source of
05:30 some comets, dislodged by passing stars, and sent careening into our more immediate neighborhood.
05:35 12. Saturn's Giant Thunderstorms Scared of thunder? Saturn might be
05:41 your worst nightmare. In a region of Saturn's southern hemisphere known as Storm Alley,
05:46 giant thunderstorms rage for months at a time, lashing the planet with superbolts and ranging
05:51 for thousands of miles. One of the most dramatic is known as the Dragon Storm, discovered by the
05:56 space probe Cassini in 2004. It flares up periodically, lighting up Saturn's atmosphere.
06:02 In 2009, Cassini observed another storm that lasted for eight months, the longest continuous
06:08 thunderstorm ever recorded. Jupiter also has its fair share of lightning storms, so maybe stay away
06:14 from windows and doors next time you visit either. 11. Diamond Rain
06:18 An umbrella won't save you from this downpour. Based on atmospheric data, several scientists
06:24 believe that diamonds likely rain down on the gas giants. The idea was first floated in 2013,
06:30 when researchers argued that soot created by lightning on Saturn and Jupiter would become
06:33 graphite and then diamond as it fell. In 2017, another team of researchers concluded that
06:39 atmospheric temperatures and pressures would create diamond rain on Uranus and Neptune.
06:44 They used high-powered lasers to reproduce conditions on the planets and create their
06:48 own diamonds. Make it rain, gas giants! Also, can we have some?
06:51 10. Mimas, the Death Star Moon We've projected the familiar onto the
06:57 unknown for millennia. In stars, planets, and moons, we've seen gods, animals, and even human
07:03 faces. And now, fully armed and operational battle stations. Saturn boasts at least 82 moons and
07:10 hundreds of moonlets, some of which plow paths in the icy particles of its rings. But Mimas stands
07:16 out for both being the smallest known astronomical body rounded from self-gravitation and the huge
07:21 impact crater 81 miles across that dominates its surface. And seems strangely familiar.
07:26 The impact was so powerful it must have almost smashed Mimas to pieces and possibly produced
07:32 the fractures visible on the opposite side. 9. Alien Auroras
07:36 The auroras on our home planet are already surreal. So, imagine alien auroras on other
07:43 planets. Also known as the Northern and Southern Lights, auroras occur when the sun's solar wind
07:49 disturbs our magnetic field. Turns out, though, Earth isn't the only planet with a magnetic field.
07:54 In fact, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have magnetic fields even stronger than Earth's.
07:59 Jupiter in particular is a magnetic powerhouse. Thanks to these fields, the gas giants also have
08:05 stunning auroras, which from afar resemble fiery halos. While Saturn's auroras are variable,
08:12 Jupiter's are permanent beacons lighting up the planet's poles.
08:15 8. Coronal Mass Ejections The sun has burnt steadily away for 4.6
08:22 billion years. But its surface is far from peaceful. Twisting magnetic fields wrack the
08:27 outer shell, triggering flares and eruptions of gaseous fountains and long, fiery filaments.
08:32 These columns of magnetized plasma loop and sometimes launch out into the solar winds at
08:37 speeds of more than 7 million miles per hour. Called coronal mass ejections, the freed solar
08:42 material can cause geomagnetic storms on Earth, damage satellites, and manifest as spectacular
08:49 aurorae at the poles. 7. Io Supervolcanoes
08:53 When you think of moons, you might think of white, dusty plains and empty craters.
08:58 Consider, then, Jupiter's moon Io. The most geologically active body in our solar system,
09:04 Io is riddled with over 400 active volcanoes, whose explosions coat the surface in rich yellows,
09:10 reds, and greens. This coating of silicates and sulfurous material has earned Io the moniker
09:14 "the pizza moon" and also potentially makes it the stinkiest object in the solar system.
09:20 Its volcanic activity is the result of tidal heating, as Io is pulled between the colossal
09:24 gravity of Jupiter and the planet's outer moons. 6. Saturn's Hexagon
09:30 Saturn is best known for its rings. But these aren't the gas giant's only unusual features.
09:36 A massive hexagonal jet stream churns around the North Pole, with winds inside that whip past at
09:42 over 330 mph. First discovered in 1988 when scientists reviewed images from Voyager's
09:47 flyby earlier in the decade, the cloud pattern was confirmed again by Cassini in 2006. As if the neat
09:53 geometric shape wasn't bizarre enough, between 2012 and 2016, it changed color from blue to gold.
09:59 We know little about what generates the jet stream's unique shape, making Saturn's hexagon
10:04 one of the strangest and most mysterious phenomena in the solar system. 5. Triton's Cryovolcanoes
10:12 Triton, Neptune's largest moon, is a world of ice. But like Io, it's also geologically active.
10:19 The satellite's south polar cap is an intricate landscape of troughs, ridges, and streaks created
10:23 by cryovolcanoes that shoot plumes of nitrogen gas and ice miles into the air. The eruptions of
10:29 these ice volcanoes spread dark smears of dust across the surface and can continue for more than
10:34 a year. The moon's strange volcanism might also be responsible for its famed "cantelope terrain,"
10:40 an area of melon-like dimpled regions in the moon's western hemisphere.
10:44 4. Enceladus' Plumes Imagine a towering plume of water and ice
10:50 particles shooting up hundreds of miles overhead. Now picture a hundred of these going off at the
10:55 same time. That's what Cassini found on Enceladus' southern polar region in 2005.
11:00 Saturn's small moon should be inactive and dead, but instead, cryovolcanic jets spew water from
11:07 tiger-stripe-like fissures into space, providing the material for one of Saturn's outer rings.
11:12 Scientists think gravitational forces explain some of the heat required to maintain a subsurface
11:17 ocean, but they also think there must be something else warming the moon up too.
11:21 3. The Lakes of Titan A river winds through dunes towards
11:27 the shores of a smooth, clear lake. As clouds roll in and thunder rumbles, it begins to rain.
11:32 The surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is strangely Earth-like. Titan has a dense nitrogen
11:38 atmosphere and is the only other object in space known to have stable bodies of liquid on its
11:43 surface, but swimming in them would be tough. Composed of liquid methane and ethane, the lakes
11:49 of Titan are less dense than water and hundreds of degrees below zero. Although the moon lacks
11:55 liquid water, astrobiologists speculate that hypothetical methanogenic lifeforms might call
12:00 Titan home. 2. The Great Red Spot – Jupiter's Perpetual Storm
12:05 The gigantic storm in Jupiter's southern hemisphere has raged for centuries.
12:10 Astronomers observed it in 1830 and possibly as far back as 1665. Large enough to swallow Earth
12:17 and have room for more, the Great Red Spot is a colossal anticyclonic maelstrom with winds that
12:22 peak at over 400 miles an hour. Its frantic swirl is fueled by turbulent bands of ammonia clouds
12:28 that spin around the planet in both directions. The reason for its reddish color remains unsure,
12:33 but its persistence is partially due to the fact that Jupiter has no solid ground to slow
12:38 the storm down. 1. The Hidden Ocean of Europa
12:42 On the surface, Europa is smooth and dead, but it's a moon with a secret, or at least so
12:49 scientists hope. Beneath miles of icy crust, a vast subsurface ocean 60 miles deep might lie
12:56 hidden inside the Jovian moon. Evidence includes the cracks that crisscross its surface, possibly
13:01 due to internal tides, and the sparsity of impact craters, which suggests the youthful surface has
13:07 been replenished by geological processes thanks to tidal heating. Since there's a chance
13:12 extraterrestrial microbes might reside near possible hydrothermal vents inside the ocean,
13:17 scientists are keen to learn more. And both ESA and NASA are currently planning missions to Europa,
13:23 hoping to confirm the existence of a hidden ocean once and for all.
13:26 What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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