The main characteristics of the Earth as a heavenly body

The Earth is the largest planet in the earth group. It is in the third place at a distance from the Sun and has a satellite - the Moon. The earth is the only planet that is inhabited by living beings. Human civilization is an important factor that directly affects the face of the planet. What other characteristics are characteristic of our Earth?

Shape and mass, location

The earth is a giant cosmic body, its mass is about 6 septillion tons. In its form it resembles potatoes or pears. That is why researchers sometimes call the form that our planet has, "Potatooid" (from English potato - potatoes). Important are also the characteristics of the Earth as a heavenly body, describing its spatial position. Our planet is located at 149.6 million kilometers from the Sun. For comparison, Mercury is located 2.5 times closer to the luminary than the Earth. And Pluto is 40 times farther from the Sun than Mercury.

Neighbors of our planet

A brief description of the Earth as a celestial body should contain information about its satellite, the Moon. Its mass is 81.3 times less than terrestrial. The earth rotates around its axis, which is located at an angle of 66.5 degrees relative to the orbital plane. One of the main corollaries of the Earth's rotation around its axis and its orbital motion is the change of day and night, as well as the seasons.

Our planet belongs to the group of so-called terrestrial planets. This category also includes Venus, Mars and Mercury. The more distant giant planets - Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn - are almost entirely composed of gases (hydrogen and helium). All planets that belong to the terrestrial category revolve around their axis, as well as elliptical trajectories around the Sun. Only Pluto alone, by virtue of its characteristics, is not included by scientists in any group.

Earth's crust

One of the main characteristics of the Earth as a heavenly body is the presence of the earth's crust, which, like a thin skin, covers the entire surface of the planet. It consists of sand, various clays and minerals, stones. The average thickness of the earth's crust is 30 km, but in some areas it is 40-70 km. Astronauts argue that the earth's crust is not the most delicious sight from space. In some places it is built up by mountain ridges, in others, on the contrary, it falls down by giant pits.

Oceans

A small characteristic of the Earth as a heavenly body must necessarily include a reference to the oceans. All the excavations on Earth are filled with water, which gives shelter to hundreds of living species. However, much more plants and animals can be found on land. If we put all the living beings that dwell in the water on one scales, and those who live on land - on the other, then the bowl with the inhabitants of the land will be heavier . Its weight will be 2 thousand times more. This is very surprising, because the ocean area is more than 361 million square meters. Km or 71% of the entire surface of the Earth. Oceans are a distinctive feature of our planet along with the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere. And the share of fresh water on Earth is only 2.5%, the rest of the mass has a salinity of about 35 ppm.

Core and Mantle

The characterization of the Earth as a heavenly body will be incomplete without a description of its internal structure. The core of the planet consists of a hot mixture of two metals - nickel and iron. It is surrounded by a hot and viscous mass, which is similar to plasticine. These silicates are substances that are similar in composition to sand. Their temperature is several thousand degrees. This viscous mass is called mantle. Its temperature is not the same everywhere. Near the earth's crust, it is about 1000 degrees, and with the approach to the core it increases to 5000 degrees. However, even in areas close to the earth's crust, the mantle can be colder or hotter. The hottest areas are called magmatic foci. Magma burns the surface of the earth's crust, and in these places volcanoes, lava valleys, geysers are formed.

Earth atmosphere

Another characteristic of the Earth as a heavenly body is the presence of an atmosphere. Its thickness is only about 100 km. Air is a gas mixture. It consists of four components - nitrogen, argon, oxygen and carbon dioxide. The remaining substances are present in the air in an insignificant amount. Most of the air is located in the layer of the atmosphere, which is closest to the surface of the Earth. This part is called the troposphere. Its thickness is about 10 km, and the weight reaches 5000 trillion tons.

Although in ancient times people did not know the characteristics of the planet Earth as a heavenly body, even then it was assumed that it belongs specifically to the category of planets. How did our ancestors make such a conclusion? The fact is that they used the starry sky instead of clocks and calendars. Even then it became clear that different lights in the sky move in their own way. Some practically do not move from their place (they were called stars), while others often change their position relative to the stars. That is why these heavenly bodies began to be called planets (in Greek, the word "planet" is translated as "wandering").