2. The Earth

This article has been updated after I have done a lot more reading.

Earth was once believed to be in the centre of the universe and the solar system. But when galileo galilei improved the telescope (which in the time was, a children's toy), he discovered and claimed that the earth was orbiting around the sun, along with a few other planets.

At the time, the claim that the Earth was not at the centre of the universe caused great agitation within the Catholic church. At the time, most people within the Catholic church believed that the Earth was the centre of the universe, which was the view of the great Greek philosopher Aristotle. But we now know, through scientific observations, that Earth is not at the centre of our solar system, or the universe. The only thing the Earth is at the centre of is the orbit of our moon.

The Earth rotates on an axis which is tilted 23.4 degrees. The Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down. That means that over a long period of time, the days and the nights on Earth will get longer. A month in the distant future on Earth could be a lot longer than it is now! This would be great for school holidays. Don't worry though, because it is slowing down a lot slower than you think.

There are many volcanoes on the surface of Earth. In fact, 600 volcanoes have erupted in the last 10,000 years! But, volcanoes aren't bad for trees and other natural plants. Trees and plants like to grow in volcanic ash.

Earth has a powerful magnetic field and this is vital to having life on the planet. The magnetic field is the thing that make a compass point north and it is the only thing keeping our atmosphere from being stripped away by powerful solar radiation and winds. The magnetic field goes all the way from the outer core of the earth and wraps around to meet at the poles. The Aurora Australis and Borealis (Southern and Northern lights) are solar radiation being released after it has been trapped by the magnetosphere.

The Earth only has one natural satellite - the moon. But there are hundreds of artificial satellites and even space stations orbiting the planet. The biggest space station is called the International Space Station (it is the size of two football fields).

Earth was formed more than 4.5 billion years ago by a BIG explosion that formed the sun and other planets followed by the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt. Scientists and astrophysicists think the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt are leftovers from the early formation of the solar system that did not stick together to form a planet or moon.

Earth is the only planet not named after a God. The other planets are named after Greek and Roman gods. Mercury was the Roman god of travel and a messenger. Venus was the god of love and beauty. Mars was the god of war - it was named because it's red appearance reminded the ancient astronomers of blood. That's grim..... Jupiter was the king of all gods, Saturn was the god of farming, Uranus was the Greek king of the gods, Neptune was the god of the sea and the dwarf planet Pluto was named after the god of the underworld.

The Earth is the densest planet in the solar system and its atmosphere is made of 71% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. Oxygen is vital to life and is produced by plant life in the ocean and on land. So much of the oxygen we breathe is made in the ocean. Oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about Earth, from space! To watch my videos on space topics visit my YouTube channel

Until next time, Give me Space!

Henry.