Earth is unique among the planets in our solar system. Its particular conditions have given rise to all kinds of life, including millions of species of plants and animals. The planet is incredibly diverse: it has high mountains and deep valleys, humid forests and arid deserts, hot and cold climates. Its 195 countries are home to more than 7.5 billion people.
That’s how it is; our home is a world unlike any other. At least for the moment.
Earth is the third planet from the sun and has a radius of 6,371 km. It is the fifth largest planet in our solar system, and it is the only known planet that will surely have liquid water on its surface. It is also the largest of the four rocky planets.
His name is also special and unique, as all the other planets in the solar system were named after a Greek or Roman deity, such as Venus, the Roman goddess of love, or Jupiter (Zeus in Greek mythology), for the father of all the gods of Olympus.
Among the best known facts about our planet, we know that it orbits the Sun once every 365.25 days . Since our calendar years have only 365 days, we add an additional jump day every four years to modify that difference. It is what we know as a leap year.
Although we cannot feel it, the Earth is moving through its orbit at an average speed of about 30 kilometers per second. During this circuit, our planet is an average of 150 million kilometers away from the sun, a distance that takes the sunlight about eight minutes to reach Earth. Astronomers define this distance as an astronomical unit (AU), a measurement that serves as a cosmic practice.
The Earth rotates on its axis every 23.9 hours, defining day and night for the inhabitants of the surface. This axis of rotation is inclined to 23.4 degrees from the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, which offers us the precious seasons.
Whichever hemisphere leans closer to the sun, it experiences summer and vice versa. In the spring and fall, each hemisphere receives similar amounts of light. On two specific dates each year, called the equinoxes, both hemispheres light up equally.
Do you want to know more curiosities about the Earth? Here we go!
