Facts about the Earth

 The Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing.

This deceleration is happening almost imperceptibly, at approximately 17
milliseconds per hundred years, although the rate at which it occurs is not
perfectly uniform. This has the effect of lengthening our days, but it
happens so slowly that it could be as much as 140 million years before the
length of a day will have increased to 25 hours.
 The Earth was once believed to be the centre of the
universe.
Due to the apparent movements of the Sun and planets in relation to their
viewpoint, ancient scientists insisted that the Earth remained static, whilst
other celestial bodies travelled in circular orbits around it. Eventually, the
view that the Sun was at the centre of the universe was postulated by
Copernicus, though this is also not the case.
 Earth has a powerful magnetic field.
This phenomenon is caused by the nickel-iron core of the planet, coupled
with its rapid rotation. This field protects the Earth from the effects of
solar wind.
 There is only one natural satellite of the planet Earth.
As a percentage of the size of the body it orbits, the Moon is the largest
satellite of any planet in our solar system. In real terms, however, it is only
the fifth largest natural satellite.
 Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
The other seven planets in our solar system are all named after Roman
gods or goddesses. Although
only Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were named during ancient
times, because they were visible to the naked eye, the Roman method of
naming planets was retained after the discovery of Uranus and Neptune.
 The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System.
This varies according to the part of the planet; for example, the metallic
core is denser than the crust. The average density of the Earth is
approximately 5.52 grams per cubic centimetre.

Earth Diagrams
Earth size compared to the Moon

Earth distance from the Sun and orbital eccentricity

Facts from Leo:

-70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water

When astronauts first went into the space, they looked back at the Earth
with human eyes for the first time, and called our home the Blue Planet.
And it’s no surprise. 70% of our planet is covered with oceans. The
remaining 30% is the solid ground, rising above sea level.

-Earth is mostly iron, oxygen and silicon

If you could separate the Earth out into piles of material, you’d get 32.1 %
iron, 30.1% oxygen, 15.1% silicon, and 13.9% magnesium. Of course,
most of this iron is actually down at the core of the Earth. If you could
actually get down and sample the core, it would be 88% iron. 47% of the
Earth’s crust consists of oxygen.

-Earth doesn’t take 24 hours to rotate on its axis

It’s actually 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds. This is the amount of
time it takes for the Earth to completely rotate around its axis;
astronomers call this a sidereal day. Now wait a second, that means a day
is 4 minutes shorter than we think it is. You’d think that time would add
up, day by day, and within a few months, day would be night, and night
would be day.

-A year on Earth isn’t 365 days

It’s actually 365.2564 days. It’s this extra .2564 days that creates the need
for leap years. That’s why we tack on an extra day in February every year
divisible by 4 – 2004, 2008, etc – unless it’s divisible by 100 (1900, 2100,
etc)… unless it’s divisible by 400 (1600, 2000, etc).

-Earth has 1 moon and 2 co-orbital satellites

As you’re probably aware, Earth has 1 moon (The Moon). But did you
know there are 2 additional asteroids locked into a co-orbital orbits with
Earth? They’re called 3753 Cruithne and 2002 AA29. We won’t go into too
much detail about the Moon, I’m sure you’ve heard all about it.

3753 Cruithne is 5 km across, and sometimes called Earth’s second moon.

It doesn’t actually orbit the Earth, but has a synchronized orbit with our
home planet. It has an orbit that makes it look like it’s following the Earth
in orbit, but it’s actually following its own, distinct path around the Sun.

2002 AA29 is only 60 meters across, and makes a horseshoe orbit around
the Earth that brings it close to the planet every 95 years. In about 600
years, it will appear to circle Earth in a quasi-satellite orbit. Scientists have
suggested that it might make a good target for a space exploration
mission.

-The Earth is not actually round in shape; in fact it is geoid. This simply
means that the rounded shape has a slight bulge towards the equator. So
what causes this geoid shape? This happens solely because the rotation of
the Earth which causes the bulge around the equator.

-The Earth tilts at roughly 66 degrees.

-Only 3% water of the earth is fresh, rest 97% salted. Of that 3%, over
2% is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers. Means less than 1% fresh water is
found in lakes, rivers and underground.

-Asia Continent is covered 30% of the total earth land area, but represent
60% of the world’s population.

-Each winter there are about 1 septillion (1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000,
000, 000 or a trillion trillion) snow crystals that drop from the sky.