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Earth

3rd planet from the Sun, the fifth largest planet in the solar system — our home
   
Average distance from the Sun     149,600,000 km / 1.00 AU
Diameter     12,756.3 km
Mass     5.972e24 kg
Orbital period around the Sun     1 year / 365 days
Number of moons     1, the Moon
   
   
Earth is the only planet to have liquid water on its surface. Liquid water covers 71% of the surface. Its atmosphere is 77% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with traces of other gases. From sky, white clouds of water vapor hide much of Earth’s surface. It was not until the 16th century that the idea began to spread and be accepted that the Earth was a planet in the same sense as the other planets that orbit the Sun. And it wasn’t until the 20th century that we had maps of the entire planet. Pictures taken from space are of considerable importance—they are an enormous help in weather prediction and especially in tracking and predicting hurricanes. Earth has only one moon, which is unlike any of the other satellite bodies in the solar system.

Our Solar System

Our solar system is located on the edge of a spiral arm called Orion’s Arm, and is one-half to two-thirds of the way (28,000 light-years) from the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

The Sun, Sol

The Inner Planets
  Mercury
  Venus
  Earth
    The Moon
  Mars

The Asteroid Belt
  Dwarf planet, Ceres
  Asteroid, Ida
  Asteroid, Vesta
  Asteroid, Eros

The Outer Planets
  Jupiter
  Saturn
  Uranus
  Neptune

The Kuiper Belt
  Dwarf planet, Pluto
  Dwarf planet, Eris

The Oort Cloud
  Dwarf planet, Sedna
  Comet Halley
  Comet Hale-Bopp

  Glossary of Terms
 
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