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Earth's surface is the boundary between the atmosphere, and the solid Earth and oceans. Defined in this way, it has an area of about 510 million km 2 (197 million sq mi). [12] Earth can be divided into two hemispheres: by latitude into the polar Northern and Southern hemispheres; or by longitude into the continental Eastern and Western hemispheres.
3 days ago · Earth, third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet in the solar system in terms of size and mass. Its single most outstanding feature is that its near-surface environments are the only places in the universe known to harbour life. It is designated by the symbol ♁.
- Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet in the solar system in terms of size and mass. Its near-surface environments ar...
- Earth is located in the Orion-Cygnus Arm, one of the four spiral arms of the Milky Way, which lies about two-thirds of the way from the centre of t...
- Earth’s name in English, the international language of astronomy, derives from Old English and Germanic words for ground and earth, and it is the o...
- Earth and the other planets in the solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago. The early Earth had no ozone layer and no free oxygen, lacked o...
- Viewed from another planet, Earth would appear bright and bluish in colour. In latitudinal belts, swirling white cloud patterns of midlatitude and...
- Earth's Axis Is Imaginary
- Giant Impact Hypothesis
- Earth's Obliquity Today
- The Tilt Changes
- Acts Like Two Spinning Tops
- Ancient Discovery
- Tilt Causes Seasons
- Opposite Seasons
- Illustrator's Point of View
In astronomy, an axisrefers to the imaginary line that an object, usually a planet, rotates around. Earth's rotational axis is an imaginary straight line that runs through the North and South Pole. In our illustrations, Earth's axis is drawn as a straight red line.
The impact around 4.5 billion years ago is described in the Giant Impact Hypothesis, which is the current prevailing theory on how the Moon was formedand how Earth got its tilt. Ever since this impact, Earth has been orbiting the Sun at a slant. This slant is the axial tilt, also called obliquity. Earth's obliquity angle is measured from the imagin...
Today, on July 23, 2024 at noon, Earth's axial tilt, or mean obliquity was 23.43608° or 23°26'09.9". Earth's mean obliquity today is about 0.00001°, or 0.04", less than 30 days ago. The Arctic and Antarctic circles today are 1.2 m (4 ft) closer to the poles, and the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn are equally closer to the equator than 30 ...
In a repeating cycle that lasts about 41,000 years, Earth's axial tilt oscillates between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees. This change in obliquity is caused by gravitational forces from the Sun, the Moon, and other planets.
Axial precession can be described as a slow gyration of Earth's axis about another line intersecting it. A complete wobble of Earth's axis takes around 26,000 years. It outlines the shape of a pair of cones or two spinning tops connected at the tips, which would be at the center of Earth.
Greek astronomer Hipparchus of Nicea is historically credited as the man who first proposed that Earths axis gradually shifts, though very slowly. Hipparchus made his discovery around 130 BCE, based on comparisons of astronomical observations more than a century apart.
Because Earth orbits the Sun at an angle, the solar energy reaching different parts of our planet is not constant, but varies during the course of a year. This is the reason we have different seasons and why the seasons are opposite in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The Sun: Our home star
Astronomical & meteorological seasons From the March equinox to the September equinox, the Northern Hemisphere tilts towards the Sun. During this time, there are more than 12 hours of daylight north of the equator. What are equinoxes and solstices? At the same time, the Southern Hemisphere tilts away from the Sun, resulting in shorter days. From th...
Different illustrators may vary which direction they incline the axis in their images. Some draw it tilted left-to-right, others right-to-left. These illustrations can both be accurate; the only difference is that the artist has chosen the opposite side of the Sun as the point-of-view. Topics: Astronomy, Seasons, Equinox, Solstice, Earth, Geography
May 20, 2024 · Total land area, measured in square kilometres (km²). Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones.
May 9, 2022 · Where is Earth located? The sun sits near one of the Milky Way's small, partial arms called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, located between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms of our spiral galaxy....