From a distance, the sun and all itsplanets may look like perfect spheres. They're not. Centrifugal force and "self-gravity" combine to keep them in the shape of anoblate spheroid. Such objects mayresembletrue spheres, but they're somewhat squashed. Take Earth. The radius of our planet's...
As seen from above the earth's north pole, the moon moves in a counterclockwise direction with an average orbital speed of about 0.6 mi/sec (1 km/sec). Because the lunar orbit is elliptical, the distance between the earth and the moon varies periodically as the moon revolves in its orbit...
From a distance, the sun and all itsplanets may look like perfect spheres. They're not. Centrifugal force and "self-gravity" combine to keep them in the shape of anoblate spheroid. Such objects mayresembletrue spheres, but they're somewhat squashed. Take Earth. The radius of our planet's...
resulting in numerousatmospheric motions. The strength of the sun's radiation, the distance of the earth from the sun, the mass and diameter of the earth, and the existence and composition of the atmosphere combine to make the earth habitable. This particular combination of conditions would not...
In terms of its orbit, Earth has a very minor eccentricity (approx. 0.0167) and ranges in its distance from the Sun from 147,095,000 km (0.983 AU) at perihelion to 151,930,000 km (1.015 AU) at aphelion. This works out to an average distance (aka. semi-major axis) of 149,598,26...
Earth has at least five co-orbital asteroids, including3753 Cruithneand2002 AA29. A trojan asteroid companion,2010 TK7, is librating around the leading Lagrange triangular point, L4, in the Earth's orbit around the Sun. The tiny near-Earth asteroid2006 RH120makes close approaches to the Eart...
mean distance from Sun149,598,262 km (1.0 AU) eccentricity of orbit0.0167 inclination of orbit to ecliptic0.000° Earth year (sidereal period of revolution)365.256 days mean orbital velocity29.78 km/sec equatorial radius6,378.14 km polar radius6,356.78 km ...
Range of angle between the radial direction from the Sun and the planet's rotation axis over an orbital period. Sign in to download full-size image FIGURE 8. Orientation of the planets’ spin axes and their magnetic fields (magnetic field lines shown in yellow) with respect to the ecliptic...
The gravity of the sun keeps Earth and every other planet in its orbit. If the sun weren't in a perpendicular position to the Earth, the Earth would travel in a straight line rather than an elliptical orbit. The fact that the earth orbits as it does creates life on Earth as we know...
Earth - Planet, Atmosphere, Geology: The mean distance of Earth from the Sun is about 149,600,000 km (92,960,000 miles). The planet orbits the Sun in a path that is presently more nearly a circle (less eccentric) than are the orbits of all but two of the