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Earth orbits the Sun, making Earth the third-closest planet to the Sun and part of the inner Solar System. Earth's average orbital distance is about 150 million km (93 million mi), which is the basis for the astronomical unit (AU) and is equal to roughly 8.3 light minutes or 380 times Earth's distance to the Moon .
(110–210 Earth radii) 6.36×10 6 –1.27×10 7: The space dominated by Earth's magnetic field and its magnetotail, shaped by the solar wind. [17] Earth's orbit: 299.2 million km [b] 2 AU [c] 2.99×10 8: The average diameter of the orbit of the Earth relative to the Sun. Encompasses the Sun, Mercury and Venus. [18] Inner Solar System ~6.54 AU ...
Schematic of NASA Earth Science Division operating satellite missions as of February 2015. NASA Earth Science is a large, umbrella program comprising a range of terrestrial and space-based collection systems in order to better understand the Earth system and its response to natural and human-caused changes.
Earth's atmosphere contains 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, which is the result of the presence of life. [103] [104] The planet has a complex climate and weather system, with conditions differing drastically between climate regions. [105] The solid surface of Earth is dominated by green vegetation, deserts and white ice sheets.
The head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency discusses 2024 YR4, an asteroid with a small chance of striking Earth eight years from now. Key facts about asteroid that could hit Earth ...
Deep space is defined by the United States government as all of outer space which lies further from Earth than a typical low-Earth-orbit, thus assigning the Moon to deep-space. [118] Other definitions vary the starting point of deep-space from, "That which lies beyond the orbit of the moon," to "That which lies beyond the farthest reaches of ...
A terrestrial planet, tellurian planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet, is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate, rocks or metals. Within the Solar System , the terrestrial planets accepted by the IAU are the inner planets closest to the Sun : Mercury , Venus , Earth and Mars .
Earth's rotation imaged by Deep Space Climate Observatory, showing tilt. Earth's rotation or Earth's spin is the rotation of planet Earth around its own axis, as well as changes in the orientation of the rotation axis in space. Earth rotates eastward, in prograde motion. As viewed from the northern polar star Polaris, Earth turns counterclockwise.