The Earth Formed 4.5 Billion Years Ago

Fact of the day: The earth formed 4.5 billion years ago.

The Earth. A minute ball of mostly iron, oxygen and silicon, is our home.
The Earth is the third planet from the sun, and has the largest natural satellite in relation to its host planet in the solar system. It is the only known (by us at least) place in the entire universe to harbour life.


(above) The Earth taken from the ISS (International Space Station).

The Earth formed around 4.5 billion years ago, from the dusty remains of the formation of the sun. It is even safe to say that the earth has not finished forming yet as it is still geologically active.
The Earth takes 365.256 days to orbit the sun and it takes 23 hours and 56 minutes to rotate once on its axis.


(above) Sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico taken from the ISS.

(below) The Earth at night.



(above) Hurricane Mathew as seen from the ISS.

(below) The aurora as seen from the ISS.




Images from NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/iotd.html
In this post I have not included much information about the Earth, as I wanted to explain the Earth as a planet, as I am doing the solar system as my current topic.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There Are Over 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Atoms In A Drop Of Water

Image
Fact of the day: There are over 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (approx.) atoms in a drop of water. Particles. They are almost everything in the universe. From the computer that I am writing this with, to the light coming through my window from a star millions of lightyears away. They are made of particles. As I have briefly mentioned in one of my previous posts, particles have a wave property. This is called the wave-particle duality. Every particle has a wavelength. Even carbon 'buckyballs' (a molecule that is a ball of 60 carbon atoms) have been measured to have wavelengths. Apparently, a tennis ball has a wavelength between 10^-33 metres and 10^-35 metres (this must have been calculated, not measured). Despite the wave-particle duality, most different forms of matter and force carriers are classified by their particle type. All of the discovered fundamental particles (they cannot be split apart into new particles) are in the Standard Model Of Elementary Particles. I
Read more

The First Man Stepped On The Moon In 1969

Image
Fact of the day: The first man stepped on the moon in 1969*. The moon was formed at around the same time as the Earth, and some theories suggest that the moon formed when a mars sized planet collided with the Earth and the moon formed from the debris. The moon is the fifth largest natural satellite in the solar system, and the largest natural satellite in relation to its host planet. Most people think that the moon is really close to the earth, but the distance is actually around 4 times the diameter of the earth. (above) The Earth and the moon taken from Mars. The moon always shows the same face to Earth as its orbit and rotation are synchronised by coincidence. It takes around 29.53 days to orbit the Earth and rotate once on its axis. It has no atmosphere, and as a result is covered with impact craters. The moon's noticeable effect on the Earth is the tides, but has many other effects, even effecting the weather. (above) The moon. *Some people think that this
Read more

There Are 15 Types Of Energy

Image
Fact of the day: There are 15 types of energy. When someone says energy, most people think of electricity, or light. Energy is so much more than that. Energy takes so many forms that the definition is very simple and generic. Energy is the ability to do work. Energy can never be created or destroyed, but can be interchanged with matter ( E  = mc  2 ), so the overall amount of mass and energy in the universe remains constant. Energy can be changed between different types of energy. Types Of Energy Kinetic Energy Kinetic energy is basically the energy that an object uses to move. Potential Energy Potential energy is the energy 'stored' in an object in relation to its position. For example, when you pick a tennis ball up, the kinetic energy that you are using to pick the ball up turns into gravitational potential energy, and when you drop it, the gravitational potential energy then turns back into kinetic energy for the ball to drop. Mechanical Energy The sum of an o
Read more