Earth, which is the third planet in the Solar System, is the only celestial body in the universe known for sure to be inhabited. It is located at an ideal distance from the Sun to actively support life.

Where do we live?

Our Solar System has eight “official” planets orbiting the Sun. Here they are listed in order of their distance from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Our Earth is a rocky/terrestrial planet: it consists mainly of heavy elements and rock-forming minerals. Its shape is a slightly flattened sphere: its equatorial radius is larger than at the poles because of the rotation around its axis. Space images show that our planet appears bluish from space. This is because 71% of its surface is covered by water.

Eternal circle

The Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 150 million km in a roughly circular orbit once every 1 year (365 days and 6 hours) and rotates about its axis once every 24 hours.

Earth's climate

The Sun's rays reach the Earth's surface at a decreasing angle as they move from the equator towards the poles, therefore, the heating decreases towards the poles. At a given point on the earth, the rays reach the surface at different angles at different times of the year causing seasonal differences in temperatures.