Earth

Earth, our home planet, is a beautiful blue and white ball when seen from space. The third planet from the Sun, it is the largest of the inner planets. Earth is the only planet known to support life and to have liquid water at the surface. Earth has a substantial atmosphere and magnetic field, both of which are critical for sustaining life on Earth. Earth is the innermost planet in the solar system with a natural satellite – our Moon. Explore our beautiful home planet – unique in our solar system - through the links in this section.

An image of Hurricane Sandy taken by the GOES-13 satellite on October 28. This category 1 <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/hurricane/hurricane.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">hurricane</a> was huge, spanning a horizontal distance of about one-third the US continental landmass. The storm came onshore in New Jersey, and gradually moved northeast. The storm disrupted the lives of tens of millions in the eastern US, doing billions of dollars in damage, resulting in over 30 deaths. Visit the National Hurricane Center's webpage on <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/">Hurricane Sandy</a> for details.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>March 2012 marks the first anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">earthquake</a>, <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">tsunami</a>, and resulting nuclear accident in Japan on <a href="/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">11 March 2011</a>. The tsunami did massive damage, wiping out entire villages and killing ~16,000 people, and leading to one of the most serious nuclear accidents in history. This image shows before and after photos of the area north of Sendai, where 10,000 people were lost.<p><small><em>Photos by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html?hp">GeoEye/EyeQ</a>.</em></small></p>A sinuous glowing band of <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/aurora.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">aurora</a> (the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights) loops around the <a href="/earth/polar/polar_south.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">southern polar</a> region in the distance as viewed by astronauts onboard the space shuttle on <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-39.html">STS-039</a>. <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/aurora/aurora_colors.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">Aurora are produced</a> when <a href="/physical_science/physics/atom_particle/particle_radiation.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">energetic particles</a> entering the Earth's atmosphere from space interact with <a href="/physical_science/physics/atom_particle/atom.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">atoms</a> and <a href="/earth/geology/molecule.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">molecules</a> in the atmosphere and release energy, emitted as light.<p><small><em>Courtesy of NASA, Astronaut Overmeyer and Dr. Hallinan</em></small></p>This is an artist's conception of the Earth and the inner and outer <a href="/glossary/radiation_belts.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">radiation belts</a> that surround it. The Earth's radiation belts are just one part of the system called the <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/overview.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">magnetosphere</a>. The radiation belts of the Earth are made up of <a href="/physical_science/physics/atom_particle/electron.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">electrons</a>, <a href="/physical_science/physics/atom_particle/proton.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">protons</a> and heavier atomic ions. These particles get trapped in the <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/earth_magnetic_field.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">magnetic field of the Earth</a>. These belts were <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/radiation_belts_discovery.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">discovered</a> by James Van Allen in 1958, and so they are known as Van Allen Belts.<p><small><em>Courtesy of Windows to the Universe</em></small></p>A new study has found that <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/airpollution_intro.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">pollution</a> from <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/particulates.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">fine particles</a> in the air - mainly the result of burning coal or <a href="/earth/interior/eruptions.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">volcanic eruptions</a> - can shade <a href="/earth/Life/cnidarian.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">corals</a> from sunlight and cool the surrounding water resulting in reduced growth rates. Coral growth rates in the Caribbean were affected by volcanic aerosol emissions in the early 20th century and by aerosol emissions caused by humans in the later 20th century. For more information, see the <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_278202_en.html">press release</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Toby Hudson (Wikimedia Commons)</em></small></p><p>You don't normally see <a href="/space_weather/space_weather.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">space weather</a> forecasted on the evening news, but it does impact life on <a href="/earth/earth.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">Earth</a> in many ways. What are the threats posed from all of these natural disasters and how can we work to mitigate those threats beforehand? </p> <p>Check out the materials about natural disasters in <a href="/earth/natural_hazards/when_nature_strikes.html&edu=elem&dev=1/k=/h/neptune/=/images/games_junk.html">NBC Learn Videos</a>, and their earth system science connections built up by the related secondary classroom activities.</p><p><small><em>NBC Learn</em></small></p>

Explore Earth

Earth's Interior and Surface

Earth, the largest and densest rocky planet, was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The Earth's ...Read more

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%) that surrounds ...Read more

Magnetosphere

The Earth has a magnetic field with north and south poles. The magnetic field of the Earth ...Read more

Moon

The Earth's one natural satellite, the Moon, is more than one quarter the size of Earth itself ...Read more

Earth's Polar Regions

Do you wonder what Earth's Polar Regions are like? Where do polar bears live? Where do penguins ...Read more

Climate and Global Change

Warm near the equator and cold at the poles, our planet is able to support a variety of living ...Read more

Water (The Hydrosphere)

Water is found in many places on Earth including on the surface of the planet, within rocks ...Read more

Life and Ecology (The Biosphere)

What is life? Why is there life on Earth, but not on any other planets in the solar system ...Read more

Natural Hazards

The United Nations estimated that between 1994-2015, there were 6,873 natural disasters worldwide, ...Read more

More about Earth

Historical Events

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Did you know?

Did you know that the Earth’s crust is thinner under the oceans than it is on the continents?

Did you know that the atmosphere gets thinner as you go up in altitude?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Holocene
xHolocene : The past 10,000 years, including most of the time since the end of the most recent ice age.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Extended Period of Lower Solar Activity Linked to Changes in Sun's Conveyor Belt

A new analysis of the unusually long solar cycle that ended in 2008 suggests that one reason for the long cycle could be a stretching of the sun's conveyor belt, a current of plasma that circulates between...Read more


Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA