Planet · Terrestrial planet
Earth
- Type
- Terrestrial planet
- Diameter
- 12,756 km
- Distance from Sun
- 149.6 M km
- Surface gravity
- 9.8 m/s²
- Mean temp.
- 15 °C
- Moons
- 1
NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring · NASA media (public domain)
Overview
Scientific overview
Earth is a terrestrial planet in orbit around The Sun, at a mean distance of 149.6 million km from the Sun.
Physical characteristics
- Mass
- 5.97 ×10²⁴ kg
- Diameter
- 12,756 km
- Radius
- 6,378 km
- Density
- 5.514 g/cm³
- Surface gravity
- 9.8 m/s²
- Escape velocity
- 11.2 km/s
- Rotation period
- 23.9 h
- Mean temperature
- 15 °C
Scale
Compared to Earth
Earth is 1.0× Earth
12,756 km across · Earth is 12,742 km
Orbit
- Distance from Sun
- 149.6 million km (1 AU)
- Orbital period
- 1 years
- Perihelion
- 147.1 million km
- Aphelion
- 152.1 million km
- Eccentricity
- 0.017
- Orbital inclination
- 0°
- Axial tilt
- 23.4°
- Orbital velocity
- 29.8 km/s
Gallery
The Earth & Moon
During its flight, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft returned images of the Earth and Moon.
1998
NASA/JPL/USGS · NASA media (public domain)
Observation
How this was captured
- Observatory / instrument
- VIIRS
- Mission
- Suomi NPP
- Source
- NASA
- Observation date
- 2012-01-30
Moons (1)
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics
Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.