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Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is contained in its global ocean, covering 70.8% of Earth's crust.
- Namesake. The name Earth is at least 1,000 years old. All of the planets, except for Earth, were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. However, the name Earth is a Germanic word, which simply means “the ground.”
- Potential for Life. Earth has a very hospitable temperature and mix of chemicals that have made life abundant here. Most notably, Earth is unique in that most of our planet is covered in liquid water, since the temperature allows liquid water to exist for extended periods of time.
- Size and Distance. With an equatorial diameter of 7926 miles (12,760 kilometers), Earth is the biggest of the terrestrial planets and the fifth largest planet in our solar system.
- Orbit and Rotation. As Earth orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 23.9 hours. It takes 365.25 days to complete one trip around the Sun. That extra quarter of a day presents a challenge to our calendar system, which counts one year as 365 days.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, all unknown in classical times, were named by the modern astronomers who discovered them, but still after Greek and Roman gods. Earth is the one exception. Its name, according to the official gazetteer of planetary discovery, comes from the Indo-European base 'er', which produced the Germanic noun 'ertho', the modern ...
He is best known for being the first person known to calculate the circumference of the Earth, which he did by using the extensive survey results he could access in his role at the Library. His calculation was remarkably accurate (his error margin turned out to be less than 1%).
- Contents
- Origin of The Name
- History of The Earth
- Earth Formation
- Hydrosphere and Atmosphere
- Physical Characteristics
All the planets, except Earth, were named after Roman and Greek gods and goddesses. Earth is a modern English name derived from an Old English word “oerde” or “erda,” meaning soil or ground. The word’s early usage came from translations of the Greek word “gē,” Latin word “terra,” as well as Hebrew word “'éretz,” which meant dry land, soil, the grou...
Earth’s origin has been a delicate subject of debate between scientists and religious groups. According to most religious beliefs, the Earth was created by a supernatural being or deity (God). However, the planet’s exploration by scientists and modern technology have modified people’s perception of the Earth. Until the 16th century, humans did not ...
Planet Earth formed about 4,540 million years ago and has been in existence for roughly one-third of the universe’s age. The planet’s formation is based on two theories; core accretion and disc instability model. However, the core accretion model is the most popular and widely accepted theory, especially for smaller planets like Earth, while the di...
Unlike other planets, Earth has abundant surface water, making up 70.8% of the total surface area. The hydrosphere comprises oceans, gulfs, lakes, seas, rivers, and underground water. The oceans cover about 71% of the Earth's surface, with a total volume of about 1.3 billion cubic kilometers. Only 2.5% of the planet's water resources are fresh wate...
Planet Earth is spherical and only nearly flat at the poles, with an equatorial bulge due to centrifugal forces resulting from the Earth’s rotation. Thus, the Earth’s shape can best be described as an oblate spheroid, with an average diameter of 12,742 kilometers. The Earth is about 510 million square kilometers, of which only 29.2% is land, while ...
- John Misachi
Jul 31, 2023 · But if you're wondering who named Earth — and it's unlikely a single person gave the planet its English name — his or her identity has been lost to the sands of time. Still, it's clear that while Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all started out as the proper names of ancient Greek and Roman gods, "Earth" did not.
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May 31, 2022 · Like many names of solar system objects, Earth's original namer is long lost to history. But linguistics provide a few clues. Ertha is an approximate spelling for "the ground" (meaning, the...
