Planet 3 of 8
Earth
The pale blue dot
The only world known to host life, Earth sits in the narrow band where liquid water is stable on the surface and a magnetic field shields the atmosphere from the solar wind.
Quick facts
- Type
- Terrestrial
- Distance from Sun
- 1 AU
- Diameter
- 12,742 km
- Mass
- 1 × Earth
- Surface gravity
- 9.81 m/s²
- Day length
- 24 hours
- Year length
- 365.25 days
- Moons
- 1
- Average temperature
- 15 °C
- Composition
- Iron-nickel core, silicate mantle, nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere
Fun facts
- About 71% of the surface is covered by water.
- Its Moon is unusually large relative to the planet.
- The atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen.
- Plate tectonics constantly recycle the crust — unique among known planets.