Earth is the only known world where life has emerged, a blue planet adrift in the Solar System with oceans that cover most of its surface, a breathable atmosphere rich in oxygen, and a protective magnetic shield that bends solar winds like an invisible force field. Unlike its barren neighbors, Earth’s restless crust drifts and reshapes continents, while its tilted axis choreographs the seasons. Orbiting a medium star at just the right distance for liquid water, and partnered by a large Moon that steadies its spin, Earth remains a singular oasis - an improbable experiment in geology, chemistry, and biology that continues to evolve against the vast silence of space.
Earth from space
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Diameter
12,742 km
Mass
5.972 × 10^24 kg
Gravity
9.807 m/s² (1 g)
Day length
23 h 56 m
Year length
365.25 days
Eccentricity
0.0167
Axial tilt
23.44°
Mean temperature
15 °C
Atmosphere
N₂ (78%), O₂ (21%), Ar, CO₂, trace gases
Moons
1
Rings
None
Albedo
0.306 (Bond), 0.367 (geom.)
Magnetic field
Strong global dipole
Orbit and Rotation
Perihelion
0.983 AU
Aphelion
1.017 AU
Orbital speed
29.78 km/s
Orbital inclination
0°
Escape velocity
11.186 km/s
Physical and Interior
Volume
1.083 × 10^12 km³
Density
5.51 g/cm³
Flattening
0.00335
Moment of inertia (I/MR²)
0.3308
Interior
Iron core, silicate mantle, crust
Surface
~71% water, ~29% rock/soil
Atmosphere and Climate
Pressure
1.013 bar
Scale height
~8.5 km
Winds
variable
Solar irradiance
1 S⊕ (~1361 W/m²)
Observation and System context
Apparent magnitude
N/A
Angular
N/A
Best months
N/A
Primary
The Sun
Neighbor Worlds
Venus(left), Mars(right)
Earth as viewed from the Cassini spacecraft.
An overexposed Earth and moon as observed from 61 million miles away.
The first shot of Earth from space captured by a camera at an altitude of 104kms
The Pale Blue Dot - a photograph of Earth taken Feb. 14, 1990, by NASA’s Voyager 1 at a distance of 6 billion kilometers from the Sun