Smelliest planets in and around our solar system
Jul 15, 2024
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The smells of space
Have you ever wondered if the seemingly endless vacuum of space had a smell? The answer to this question is a resounding yes.
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What does our solar system smell like?
Different regions in space would likely have unique scents based on their elemental makeup. An oxygen-rich star system, for example, would smell like charcoal grill. Our solar system, which lacks oxygen and has plenty of carbon dioxide, has plenty of pungent odours.
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From rotten eggs to urine
It’s one thing to smell rotten eggs in your kitchen and another thing for an entire planet to smell like that stuff. And surprisingly, there is no dearth of planets having this stink in our solar system — or even outside it.
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Our Moon
Astronauts from the Apollo 11 mission compared the smell of our Moon to spent gunpowder, as per reports.
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Venus
Earth’s twin Venus smells like rotten eggs due to the presence of sulfur dioxide.
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Mars
Our other neighbour Mars has a ton of iron, magnesium, sulphur, acids and carbon dioxide. Based on its makeup, researchers think that the Red Planet also smells like rotten eggs!
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Jupiter
This gas giant’s lighter layers smell like ammonia — which would smell like cleaning products and urine. Deeper inside, you would encounter the stink of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulfide) and even bitter almonds (hydrogen cyanide).
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Uranus
Uranus probably smells like fart. No, really. With various stinky gases like hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide among other things on the planet, it most likely smells like a mixture of various bad odours!
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Hot Jupiter or Planet HD 189733b
This exoplanet, discovered in 2005, is a gas giant just like Jupiter and has detectable levels of hydrogen suplhide. And it is also supposed to have the stinky odour of — you guessed it — rotten eggs.
Credit: NASA
But it’s not all bad
Has all the rotten egg odour in space put you off? Worry not, giant cloud in space called Sagittarius B2 is loaded with ethyl formate, the chemical that gives raspberries their delightful aroma. As if that wasn't awesome enough, this cloud also boasts a rum-like fragrance.
Credit: ESO/APEX & MSX/IPAC/NASA