Even though you have lived on planet Earth for your whole life, there are certainly a few facts that you don’t know about this amazing planet. The following are five things that you probably didn’t know about planet Earth.
1. Earth is not a sphere
You may think that the earth is a sphere, but it’s not. Many centuries ago, it was believed that Earth was a sphere, but thanks to modern astronomy, scientists came to the conclusion that our planet is actually shaped like an oblate spheroid. Actually, it looks like a sphere, because of the planet’s rotation. As Earth spins, gravity points to the center of Earth. In fact, the measurement from one North to South Pole is approximately 26 miles less than the diameter of our planet.
2. Earth moves fast
Even though you may not sense it, the earth moves all the time, and it moves really fast. For many centuries, people believed that Earth wasn’t moving because they couldn’t feel the motion, and that’s why they believed that Earth was the center of the universe. There are people who live in certain places on Earth that move faster than others. For example, people on the equator move faster than those nearer to the poles. Moreover, we are all racing around the sun at a very high speed.
3. 95% of the oceans haven’t been explored
Even though scientists have explored large parts of the moon and Mars, they haven’t explored large parts of our very own vast bodies of water. In fact, it is believed that they have only managed to explore about 5% of the vast oceans. The majority of the blue oceans remains a big mystery. These bodies of water are home to an infinite number of amazing creatures and other unexplored phenomena. Just remember that the depth of the ocean is 14,000 feet, and it’s full of mysteries. In order to be explored, it require a huge number of scientists and divers to keep watch on underwater cameras.
4. Earth was not named after a god
Earth is the only planet that was not named after a god. The other planets were all named for Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. For instance, during ancient times, only Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Saturn were known, because people could see them with their naked eyes. After scientists discovered the other two planets, Uranus and Neptune, the planets retained their names according to the Roman method.
5. Earth is the only life friendly planet
Earth is the only life-friendly planet that we know of. This is because it is at exactly the right distance from the sun to provide a warm and liveable atmosphere. In addition, planet Earth has abundant supplies of water, like the rivers, the oceans, and lakes. Your home planet is like the show says – third rock from the Sun, and the only place that’s inhabited by living creatures as we know it. While Earth is only the fifth largest planet in the solar system, it is the only place in our solar system that has liquid water on its surface.
Earth is an amazing planet with a great surface of lakes, oceans, mountains and more. But it’s also a place full of mysteries that are still to be discovered.
