E ARTHARTH EARTHEARTH

Is thE thiRd pLanet in thE sOlar systEm in terms of distance from the sUn, and the fifth largest. It is also the largest of its planetary system's terrestrial planets, making it the largest solid body in the solar system, and it is the only place in the universe known to support life.planetary systemterrestrial planetssoliduniverse

Earth, our home planet, is the only planet in our solar system known to harbor life - life that is incredibly diverse. All of the things we need to survive are provided under a thin layer of atmosphere that separates us from the uninhabitable void of space. Earth is made up of complex, interactive systems that are often unpredictable. Air, water, land, and life - including humans - combine forces to create a constantly changing world that we are striving to understand.

Average Distance from the Sun Metric: 149,597,890 km English: 92,955,820 miles Scientific Notation: x 108 km (1.000 A.U.) Perihelion (closest) Metric: 147,100,000 km English: 91,400,000 miles Scientific Notation: x 108 km (0.983 A.U.) Aphelion (farthest) Metric: 152,100,000 km English: 94,500,000 miles Scientific Notation: x 108 km (1.017 A.U.) Equatorial Radius Metric: 6, km English: 3, miles Scientific Notation: x 103 km By Comparison: 1 x Earth's Equatorial Circumference Metric: 40,075 km English: 24,901 miles Scientific Notation: x 104 km

Volume Metric: 1,083,200,000,000 km3 English: 259,900,000 mi3 Scientific Notation: x 1012 km3 By Comparison: 1 x Earth's Mass Metric: 5,973,700,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg Scientific Notation: x 1024 kg Density Metric: g/cm3 Surface Area Metric: 510,065,700 km2 English: 196,937,500 square miles Scientific Notation: x 108 km2 Equatorial Surface Gravity Metric: m/s2 English: ft/s2

Escape Velocity Metric: 40,248 km/h English: 25,009 mph Scientific Notation: 11,180 m/s Sidereal Rotation Period (Length of Day) Earth days hours Sidereal Orbit Period (Length of Year) Earth years Earth days Mean Orbit Velocity Metric: 107,229 km/h English: 66,629 mph Scientific Notation: 29,785.9 m/s

Orbital Eccentricity Orbital Inclination to Ecliptic degrees Equatorial Inclination to Orbit degrees Orbital Circumference Metric: 924,375,700 km English: 574,380,400 miles Scientific Notation: x 108 km Minimum/Maximum Surface Temperature Metric: -88/58 (min/max) °C English: -126/136 (min/max) °F Scientific Notation: 185/331 (min/max) K Atmospheric Constituents Nitrogen, Oxygen Scientific Notation: N2, O2 By Comparison: N2 is 80% of Earth's air and is a crucial element in DNA

The Earth was formed around 4.57 billion years ago[1] and its largest natural satellite, the Moon, was orbiting it shortly thereafter, around billion years ago.4.57 billion years[1]natural satelliteMoon The outer surface is divided into several tectonic plates that gradually migrate across the surface over geologic time spans. The interior of the planet remains active, with a thick layer of converting yet solid Earth mantle and an iron core that generates a magnetic field.outer surfacetectonic platesEarth mantlemagnetic field The atmospheric conditions have been significantly altered by the presence of life forms, which create an ecological balance that modifies the surface conditions. About 71% of the surface is covered in salt water oceans, and the remainder consists of continents and islands.atmospheric

The earth’s shape

The Earth's shape is that of an oblate spheroid, with an average diameter of approximately 12,742 km (~ 40,000 km / π). The rotation of the Earth causes the equator to bulge out slightly so that the equatorial diameter is 43 km larger than the pole to pole diameter. The largest local deviations in the rocky surface of the Earth are Mount Everest (8,850 m above local sea level) and the Mariana Trench (10,924 m below local sea level). Hence compared to a perfect ellipsoid, the Earth has a tolerance of about one part in about 584, or 0.17%. For comparison, this is less than the 0.22% tolerance allowed in billiard balls. Due to the bulge, the feature farthest from the center of the Earth is actually Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador.

It takes the Earth, on average, 23 hours, 56 minutes and seconds (one sidereal day) to rotate around the axis that connects the north and the south poles. From Earth, the main apparent motion of celestial bodies in the sky (except that of meteors within the atmosphere and low-orbiting satellites) is to the west at a rate of 15 °/h = 15'/min, i.e., an apparent Sun or Moon diameter every two minutes.one sidereal dayaxisnorthsouth polesmeteors

The future of the planet is closely tied to that of the Sun. The luminosity of the Sun will continue to steadily increase, growing from the current luminosity by 10% in 1.1 billion years (1.1 Gyr) and up to 40% in 3.5 Gyr.[20] Climate models indicate that the increase in radiation reaching the Earth is likely to have dire consequences, including possible loss of the oceans.[21] The Sun, as part of its solar lifespan, will expand to a red giant in 5 Gyr. Models predict that the Sun will expand out to about 99% of the distance to the Earth's present orbit (1 astronomical unit, or AU). However by that time the orbit of the Earth will expand to about 1.7 AUs due to mass loss by the Sun. The planet will thus escape envelopment.[20]

Earth Data: EQUATORIAL RADIUS: km POLAR RADIUS: km MASS: (Earth=1) DENSITY: 5.52 (g/cm^3) GRAVITY: (Earth=1) ORBIT PERIOD: (Earth days) ROTATION PERIOD: 1.00 (Earth days) SEMIMAJOR AXIS OF ORBIT: au ECCENTRICITY OF ORBIT: 0.017