Earth, the third planet from the Sun, is often called the "Goldilocks" planet due to its just-right conditions for supporting life. But how big is our cosmic home?
- Diameter: Earth's diameter at the equator is approximately 12,742 kilometers (7,926 miles). This makes it the fifth-largest planet in our solar system.
- Circumference: If you were to walk around the Earth's equator, you'd travel about 40,075 kilometers (24,901 miles).
- Surface Area: The total surface area of Earth is roughly 510 million square kilometers (197 million square miles). About 71% of this is covered by water, leaving 29% as land.
- Volume: Earth's volume is approximately 1.08 trillion cubic kilometers (260 trillion cubic miles).
- Mass: Our planet weighs about 5.97 x 10^24 kilograms (1.317 x 10^25 pounds).
Compared to other celestial bodies:
- Earth is dwarfed by gas giants like Jupiter, which is 11 times wider.
- However, Earth is significantly larger than Mercury and Mars.
- The Moon is about one-quarter the diameter of Earth.
Despite its vastness from a human perspective, Earth is tiny on a cosmic scale. Yet, this "pale blue dot" as Carl Sagan described it, is the only known habitat for life in the universe, making its size perfect for us.