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Technical facts about the Earth
Summary Fact Table for all 9 Planets | Go back to previous webpage
Fact Sheets: Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
Most frequently required technical facts
Planet Diameter: 12,756 kilometers, 1 Earth diameter
Planetary Mass: 6x1024 kg, 1 Earth mass
Average Distance from Sun: 150 million kilometers, 1 AU (astronomical units)
Length of Day: 23 hours 57 min, 1 Earth day
Length of Year: 365.242 Earth days
Number of natural satellites: 1
Planetary ring system: No
Average temperature: 288 K (15 degrees Celsius)
Atmospheric composition: 21% Oxygen, 78% Nitrogen, many other minor trace elements.
AU stands for astronomical unit.
One AU is the average distance from the center of the Earth to the center of the Sun: 149,597,870 km
Bulk parametersMass (1024 kg) 5.9736
Volume (1010 km3) 108.321
Equatorial radius (km) 6378.1
Polar radius (km) 6356.8
Volumetric mean radius (km) 6371.0
Core radius (km) 3485
Ellipticity (Flattening) 0.00335
Mean density (kg/m3) 5515
Surface gravity (m/s2) 9.78
Escape velocity (km/s) 11.186
Number of natural satellites 1 - The Moon - Fact sheet of the Moon
Planetary ring system No
Orbital parametersSemimajor axis (106 km) 149.60
Sidereal orbit period (days) 365.256
Tropical orbit period (days) 365.242
Perihelion (106 km) 147.09
Aphelion (106 km) 152.10
Mean orbital velocity (km/s) 29.78
Max. orbital velocity (km/s) 30.29
Min. orbital velocity (km/s) 29.29
Orbit inclination (deg) 0.000
Orbit eccentricity 0.0167
Sidereal rotation period (hrs) 23.9345
Length of day (hrs) 24.0000
Obliquity to orbit (deg) 23.45
Semimajor axis (106 km) Mean distance from the Sun (or other central body in the
case of satellites) from center to center in 10^6 kilometers
Sidereal orbit period (days) The time it takes the body to make one revolution about
the Sun relative to the fixed stars in days.
Synodic period (days) The time interval between similar configurations in the
orbit (e.g. opposition) of the body and Earth, in days.
Perihelion (106 km) The point in a body's orbit closest to the
Sun, in 10^6 kilometers.
Aphelion (106 km) The point in a body's orbit furthest from
the Sun, in 10^6 kilometers.
Orbit inclination (deg) The inclination of the orbit to the ecliptic, in degrees.
For satellites, this is with respect to the planet's
equator.
Orbit eccentricity A measure of the circularity of the orbit, equal to
(aphelion - perihelion distance)/(2 x semi-major axis)
For a circular orbit, eccentricity = 0.
Sidereal rotation period (hrs) The time for one rotation of the body on its axis
relative to the fixed stars, in hours. A minus sign
indicates retrograde rotation.
Length of day (hrs) The average time in hours for the Sun to move from the
noon position in the sky at a point on the equator back
to the same position, on Earth this defines a 24 hour day.
Obliquity to orbit (deg) The tilt of the body's equator relative to the body's
orbital plane, in degrees.
Terrestrial AtmosphereSurface Pressure: 1014 mb
Surface Density: 1.217 kg/m3
Scale height: 8.5 km
Average temperature: 288 K (15 C)
Diurnal temperature range: 283 K to 293 K (10 to 20 C)
Wind speeds: 0 to 100 m/s
Atmospheric composition (by volume, dry air):
Major : 78.084% Nitrogen (N2), 20.946% Oxygen (O2),
Minor (ppm): Argon (Ar) - 9340; Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - 350
Neon (Ne) - 18.18; Helium (He) - 5.24; CH4 - 1.7
Krypton (Kr) - 1.14; Hydrogen (H2) - 0.55
Water is highly variable, typically makes up about 1%
Information supplied by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
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