Earth Statistics

• Length of Day


  23.9 hours (24 hours)
• Length of Year


  365.25 days
• Distance of the Earth from the Sun

  • 93, 327, 712 miles
  • 150, 196, 428 kilometers
• One Way Light Time to Sun

  8.350022 minutes
• Earth

  • 5th largest planet in the Solar System
  • Only planet in the Solar System with liquid water on the surface
  • Biggest of the four planets closest to the Sun
• Earth's name

  Came from Old English and Germanic which means "the ground"
• Earth's Potential for Life

  • Has the right distance from the Sun
  • Protected from solar radiation by its magnetic field
  • Kept warm by an insulating atmosphere
  • Has the right chemical ingredients for life, such as water and carbon
• Earth's equatorial diameter


  7926 miles or 12760 kilometers
• It is exactly one astronomical unit away from the Sun
• Earth's axis of rotation

  Tilted 23.4 degrees, causing yearly cycles of seasons
• Seasons


  1. In the first part of the year, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, having more direct solar heat produced, causing a Summer season

  2. In the first part of the year, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, having less direct solar heat produced, causing a Winter season

  3. In the second part of the year, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, having less direct solar heat produced, causing a Winter season

  4. In the second part of the year, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, having more direct solar heat produced, causing a Summer season

  5. In Spring and Fall Seasons, both hemispheres receive roughly equal amount of heat from the Sun
• Earth is the only planet with a single moon
• Moon


  • Stabilizes the planet's wobble, making climate less variable over the years
• Moon's formation


  Formed from the resulting chunks of a collision between the Earth and a large rock
• Moon's radius


  1080 miles or 1738 kilometers
• Moon's distance from Earth

  238, 855 miles or 384, 400 kilometers
• Earth's composition


  71% water and 29% land
• Earth's water composition


  96.5% salt and 3.5% fresh
• Earth's atmospheric composition


  71% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and a remaining 1% for other gases