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Earth
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References & Edit History Related Topics
Images, Videos & Interactives
Earth
Examine the observable universe's place within the whole universe
Planets of Our Solar System
Earth's rotation and revolution around the Sun explained
Earth Earth and the Moon
Know the ten interesting facts that prove the earth is round
Earth
What causes the seasons?
surface hydrologic cycle
For Students
Earth summary
Quizzes
View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).
Astronomy and Space Quiz
Cross section of Earth showing the core, mantle, and crust
Everything Earth
The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet
Space Odyssey
Saturn. Saturn and its rings. Second largest planet of the solar system. Space Art
Planets and the Earth’s Moon
1 July 2002: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite reveals a massive solar eruption more than 30 times the Earth's diameter. The eruption formed when a loop of a magnetic field over the surface of the Sun trapped hot gas.
Brightest Star in the Solar System
Related Questions
Read Next
Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles
Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?
Solar system illustration. (planets; sun)
Why Are Planets Round?
A quarter moon is visible in this oblique view of Earth's horizon and airglow, recorded with a digital still camera on the final mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
How Much Does Earth’s Atmosphere Weigh?
Paleogeography and paleoceanography of Early Triassic time. The present-day coastlines and tectonic boundaries of the configured continents are shown at the lower right. Continents, continental drift, plate tectonics, Pangea, Laurussia, Gondwana.
Spotting a Supercontinent: How Pangea Was Discovered
Solar system illustration. (Sun; planets)
A Model of the Cosmos
Discover
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
Diverse elementary school children wearing school uniforms running outside of school. Boys girls
Pro and Con: School Uniforms
Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that
America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?
Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
8 of the Largest Empires in History

Earth: Media

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Videos

Examine the observable universe's place within the whole universe
Learn about defining and measuring the observable universe within the “whole” universe.
Video: © MinutePhysics (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Earth's rotation and revolution around the Sun explained
Earth's rotation on its axis and its revolution around the Sun.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Know the ten interesting facts that prove the earth is round
Ten reasons why Earth is round.
Video: © MinutePhysics (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
What causes the seasons?
In many parts of the world, weather cycles through the four seasons like clockwork:...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Watch Earth's continents move, from 650 million years ago to 250 million years in the future
A time-lapse representation of Earth changing through geologic time, from the late...
Video: Adapted from C.R. Scotese, The University of Texas at Arlington
Watch the aurora australis, the southern lights, from outer space
Watch a time-lapse video of the aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere.
Video: NASA
See a survey comparing the largest known single living organisms on Earth: from the animal, plant, and fungal kingdoms
A survey of the largest known single living organisms on Earth, which includes representatives...
Video: © MinuteEarth (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Learn how the earth keeps itself fresh and new and how the chemical properties of zircon determine the age of the earth
The chemical properties of zircon make it a useful tool in determining the age of...
Video: © MinuteEarth (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
What is Earth's atmosphere composed of?
Earth's atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour, carbon dioxide,...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
What is continental drift and how does it work?
The land on Earth is constantly moving. Over millions of years, the continents broke...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Understanding earthquakes: The role of Earth's crustal plates
John P. Rafferty, biological and earth science editor of Encyclopædia Britannica,...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Study the different ways of defining a year - a tropical year, a sidereal year, and the anomalistic year
Learn about the different definitions of a year: a tropical year, a sidereal year,...
Video: © MinutePhysics (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
View a demonstration to understand Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity
Explore general relativity.
Video: © World Science Festival (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Study how Earth's gravity influences the Moon in maintaining its rotation in sync, with one side forever facing Earth
Learn about the role that Earth's gravity plays in keeping one hemisphere of the...
Video: © MinuteEarth (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Global warming and its impact explained
The perceptible warming of Earth over the past 150 years has been caused by an increase...
Video: Created and produced by QA International. © QA International, 2010. All rights reserved. www.qa-international.com
See experiments describing gravity and why zero gravity or weightlessness influence the Earth
Overview of gravity, with a focus on zero gravity.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Joggie Botma/Dreamstime.com
The impact of human activities on climate change
Learn about carbon dioxide and its relationship to warming conditions at Earth's...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Understand the concept of Hadley cells in explaining tropical rain forests and deserts
The role that Hadley cells play in determining the geographic extent of tropical...
Video: © MinuteEarth (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Watch geologist Jan Smit investigate the theory of K–T extinction by using core samples taken from Earth's crust
An investigation into the theory that meteorites caused the K–T extinction.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Mopic/Dreamstime.com
Understand how the Earth remain stable in orbit around the sun
How Earth is able to remain in orbit by balancing speed and gravitational pull from...
Video: © MinutePhysics (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Examine the speculation of the presence on Mars of life that originated on Earth and, alternatively, life on Earth that originated on Mars
A discussion of the possibility that there may be life on Mars that originated on...
Video: © Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
How does the Moon affect Earth's tides?
Overview of water tides.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; thumbnail © Volodymyr Shevchuk/Dreamstime.com
How Earth's orbit and tilt create seasons
The role of Earth's orbit and axis in determining its seasons.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The scale of the universe: Earth's solar system and beyond
Scale of the universe.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Why does the Moon always face Earth the same way?
Explanation of why only one side of the Moon faces Earth.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Understanding Newton's theory of universal gravitation
Isaac Newton's formulation of the law of universal gravitation.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Get a glimpse of planet Earth as observed from the International Space Station.
Video of Earth as seen from the International Space Station.
Video: Science in Seconds (www.scienceinseconds.com) (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
View of Earth from the Messenger captured by the Mercury Dual Imaging System's wide-angle camera
View of Earth created from images captured by the wide-angle camera in the Mercury...
Video: NASA
Learn how the world is divided into continents
The distribution of the seven continents.
Video: Created and produced by QA International. © QA International, 2010. All rights reserved. www.qa-international.com
How does Earth orbit around the Sun?
Explanation of how objects under the influence of gravity move in orbits.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Explore planet Earth's interior structure; the crust, the mantle, and the core
Earth is composed of three layers: the crust, the mantle, and the core.
Video: Created and produced by QA International. © QA International, 2010. All rights reserved. www.qa-international.com
Understand Earth's geomagnetic field through the dynamo effect principle
Currents in Earth's core generate a magnetic field according to a principle known...
Video: Created and produced by QA International. © QA International, 2010. All rights reserved. www.qa-international.com
How does plate tectonics change Earth's surface?
A general discussion of plate tectonics.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Images

Earth
A composite image of Earth captured by instruments aboard NASA's Suomi National Polar-orbiting...
NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring
Earth
The planet Earth, as photographed from the Galileo spacecraft during its December...
NASA/JPL
Earth and the Moon
Image taken by the Galileo spacecraft eight days after its final encounter with Earth...
NASA
Earth
Image of Earth taken by the Elektro-L Russian weather satellite, 2012.
© Research Center for Earth Operative Monitoring (NTs OMZ)/Russian Federal Space Agency
surface hydrologic cycle
The present-day surface hydrologic cycle, in which water is transferred from the...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth: surface composition
Percentage of Earth's surface devoted to various land and water features.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth's principal tectonic plates
The principal tectonic plates that make up Earth's lithosphere. Also located are...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
production and destruction of Earth's crust
Production and destruction of Earth's crust according to the theory of plate tectonics....
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth
The planet Earth.
NASA
airglow
Earth's horizon and airglow viewed from the Space Shuttle Columbia.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Earth relative in size to the Moon
Earth (left) and the Moon shown to scale.
(Left) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center; (right) © Getideaka/Shutterstock.com
Earth at night
Earth at night as seen in a composite of images taken by satellites of the Defense...
C. Mayhew & R. Simmon (NASA/GSFC), NOAA/ NGDC, DMSP Digital Archive
Moon; Lunar Orbiter 1
The first photograph of Earth taken from the vicinity of the Moon, captured by Lunar...
Langley Research Center/NASA
Earthrise over the Moon, taken by the high-definition television (HDTV) camera on...
JAXA/NHK
Earth compared with 55 Cancri e
An artist's conception showing the size of super-Earth 55 Cancri e compared with...
NASA/JPL
variation in Earth's gravitational field
The variation in the gravitational field, given in milliGals (mGal), over the Earth's...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
solar system to scale
The eight planets of the solar system and Pluto, in a montage of images scaled to...
NASA/Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
solar system
The planets (in comparative size) in order of distance from the Sun.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earthrise
Earth rising above the lunar horizon, an unprecedented view captured in December...
NASA
timeline of life on Earth
Over hundreds of millions of years, life spread through the seas and over Earth's...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
effects of gravity on the Moon and Earth
Effects of gravity on Earth and the Moon.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
latitude and longitude
This cutaway drawing shows that the latitude and longitude of any place are based...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
orbits
The orbits of the planets and other bodies of the solar system.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
how the Sun and Moon cause tides
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and the Moon on Earth's water....
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
age of Earth's oceanic crust
The age of Earth's oceanic crust can be presented to show the pattern of seafloor...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
gravity map of Earth's oceans
Gravity map of Earth's ocean surface, computed from radar-altimetry measurements...
D.T. Sandwell from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, W.H.F. Smith from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service/Office of Ocean & Earth Science/Geoscience Lab
position of Earth's geomagnetic North Pole
Map of Earth's northern polar region marking known locations and times of the geomagnetic...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
projected changes in mean precipitation
Projected changes in mean precipitation by the late 21st century according to the...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
projected changes in mean surface temperatures
Projected changes in mean surface temperatures by the late 21st century according...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Figure 2: Hypsographic curve showing how the surface area of the Earth is distributed...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
global warming scenarios
Graph of the predicted increase in Earth's average surface temperature according...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
carbon dioxide: global warming scenarios
Graph of the predicted increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2)...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
temperature of Earth
Figure 2: A proposed temperature distribution within the Earth.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
global average surface temperature
The global average surface temperature range for each year from 1861 to 2000 is shown...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
atoll formation
Diagram depicting the process of atoll formation. Atolls are formed from the remnant...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
magnetic field of a bar magnet
The magnetic field of a bar magnet has a simple configuration known as a dipole field....
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
force in Earth-Sun system
Figure 9: The gravitational force FG...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth's lithosphere and upper mantle
A cross section of Earth's outer layers, from the crust through the lower mantle.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth's axis of rotation
Earth's axis of rotation itself rotates, or precesses, completing one circle every...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth's environmental spheres
Earth's environment includes the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the lithosphere, and...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
gravitational force
Earth's gravitational force weakens with increasing distance.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth's orbit
Earth's orbit around the Sun. Earth orbits around the Sun with a period of one year.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
geometry of a lunar eclipse
Geometry of a lunar eclipse. The Moon revolving in its orbit around Earth passes...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth's core
The internal layers of Earth's core, including its two inner cores.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Eratosthenes' arc measuring method
Eratosthenes' arc measuring method.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Eratosthenes' measurement of the Earth
Eratosthenes' measurement of the EarthEratosthenes...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Medieval Arabic method of measuring the Earth.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Poseidonius measures the Earth c. 100 bc.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
field lines of Earth's magnetic field
Field lines of Earth's magnetic field are shown projected into the noon–midnight...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
geometry and motions of the Earth-Moon system
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
sunlight strikes parts of Earth differently
The primary cause of Earth's seasons is the change in the amount of sunlight reaching...
© Merriam-Webster Inc.
seasonal configuration of Earth and Sun
Diagram depicting the position of Earth in relation to the Sun at the beginning of...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
plate movement
Theoretical diagram showing the effects of an advancing tectonic plate on other adjacent,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
plate movement on a sphere
Theoretical depiction of the movement of tectonic plates across Earth's surface....
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Costa Rica
Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles en Cartago, Costa Rica.
© manx_in_the_world—iStock/Getty Images
Earth, layers of
Earth's interior may be identified in two distinct ways. In chemical terms, it has...
© Merriam-Webster Inc.

Interactives

Planets of Our Solar System
There are 8 planets in our solar system. The 4 smaller ones are rocky. The bigger...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
annual global temperature average: 1880–2023
Annual near-surface global average temperatures have shown a marked increase over...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski