Earth - Our Home Planet

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest in our solar system. Earth is slightly larger than nearby Venus and is the largest of the terrestrial planets. Our home planet is the only one in our solar system where life definitely exists.

The planet's name is at least 1,000 years old. All planets except Earth were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. However, the name Earth is an English/German word that means "ground" or "soil".

10 Facts About Earth

  • Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the largest of the terrestrial planets.
  • A day on Earth lasts 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds, a year - 365.26 solar days.
  • Earth's rotation axis is tilted 23.44° relative to the perpendicular to its orbital plane, causing seasonal changes on the planet's surface with a period of one tropical year - 365.24 solar days.
  • Earth's atmosphere composition - 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 0.93% argon and about 0.03% carbon dioxide.
  • The atmosphere protects us from cosmic rays and meteoroids, most of which burn up in the atmosphere without reaching Earth's surface.
  • Earth has one satellite - the Moon. The Moon's gravitational effect on Earth causes ocean tides.
  • Many spacecraft study Earth from above as a single system, observing the atmosphere, ocean, glaciers, and solid earth.
  • Most of Earth's surface (70.8%) is covered by water.
  • About 8.7 million species of living organisms inhabit Earth, including humans.
  • Earth was first photographed from space in 1959 by Explorer-6. The first human to see Earth from space was Yuri Gagarin in 1961.
Earth from Apollo 17 Atlas V rocket Cyclone on the east coast of the United States View of Earth from ISS View of the Atlantic Ocean from Discovery Earth and Moon from Mariner 10 Night map of Earth View of Earth from Apollo 10 spacecraft Space Shuttle Atlantis