- Where Is It?
-
Our home planet is the third planet out from the Sun, located in
between Venus and Mars. The orbit, or path we follow around the Sun is
nearly a perfect circle. The closest we come to the Sun is a little
over 91 million miles, and the furthest away we get is a little less
than 94 million miles. Our average distance from the Sun is about 93
million miles. By the way, our average distance from the Sun is called
an astronomical unit (or a.u.).
- How Big Is It?
-
Our home planet is a little over 7,600 miles in diameter, or about
24,000 miles around the equator. On a size basis, we are right in the
middle of our planetary family, with four planets, Pluto, Mercury,
Venus and Mars, being smaller, and four planets, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune, being larger.
- How Many Moons Does It Have?
-
one-fourth the size of Earth, with a
diameter of a little over 2,000 miles. Earth is the only planet in the
solar system that has solar eclipses, which happen when the Moon hides
the Sun.
- How Did It Get Its Name?
-
Earth is the only planet that does not have a name from either Greek
or Roman mythology. The name that most of the people on Earth use for
our home planet comes from German/English roots.
- What Is It Made Of?
-
They way Earth is put together makes our home planet very unusual.
Earth has a core, or center, that is solid and made up mostly of iron.
The large amount of iron in our planet is what creates the magnetic
field that makes compasses work.
On top of the solid core is a very thick layer of molten, or almost
liquid, rock. This layer is called the "mantle" and is
responsible for the many eruptions of volcanoes that happened in the
past and are continuing to happen now.
On top of the mantle is the layer where we live. The solid layer
that makes up the continents and the oceans is actually very thin,
averaging less than thirty miles thick. The continents actually float
around on this top layer, a lot like crackers do in a bowl of soup!
- What's It Like On The Surface?
-
The weather on Earth varies a great deal, from very cold at either the
north or south poles, and keeps getting warmer until you get to the
equator, or center, of our planet. What causes the "seasons"
that most of us are familiar with is the fact the Earth
"wobbles" on its axis, like a spinning top, as it goes
around the Sun. If you live north of the equator, you have warm
weather from April through August. This is because that is the time
when your half of the planet is tilted towards the Sun. It is cooler
during the rest of the year when the southern half of the planet is
tilted towards the Sun.
|