Earth Fact Sheet (original) (raw)

Bulk parameters

Mass (1024 kg) 5.9722 Volume (1010 km3) 108.321
Equatorial radius (km) 6378.137
Polar radius (km) 6356.752
Volumetric mean radius (km) 6371.000 Core radius (km) 3485 Ellipticity (Flattening) 0.003353
Mean density (kg/m3) 5513
Surface gravity (mean) (m/s2) 9.820
Surface acceleration (eq) (m/s2) 9.780
Surface acceleration (pole) (m/s2) 9.832
Escape velocity (km/s) 11.186 GM (x 106 km3/s2) 0.39860
Bond albedo 0.294
Geometric albedo 0.434 V-band magnitude V(1,0) -3.99 Solar irradiance (W/m2) 1361.0
Black-body temperature (K) 254.0
Topographic range (km) 20.4 Moment of inertia (I/MR2) 0.3308 J2 (x 10-6) 1082.63
Number of natural satellites 1
Planetary ring system No

Orbital parameters

Semimajor axis (106 km) 149.598
Sidereal orbit period (days) 365.256 Tropical orbit period (days) 365.242
Perihelion (106 km) 147.095
Aphelion (106 km) 152.100 Mean orbital velocity (km/s) 29.78
Max. orbital velocity (km/s) 30.29 Min. orbital velocity (km/s) 29.29 Orbit inclination (deg) 0.000
Orbit eccentricity 0.0167
Sidereal rotation period (hrs) 23.9345
Length of day (hrs) 24.0000 Obliquity to orbit (deg) 23.44 Inclination of equator (deg) 23.44

Earth Mean Orbital Elements (J2000)

Semimajor axis (AU) 1.00000011
Orbital eccentricity 0.01671022
Orbital inclination (deg) 0.00005
Longitude of ascending node (deg) -11.26064
Longitude of perihelion (deg) 102.94719
Mean Longitude (deg) 100.46435

North Pole of Rotation

Right Ascension: 0.00 - 0.641T Declination : 90.00 - 0.557T Reference Date : 12:00 UT 1 Jan 2000 (JD 2451545.0) T = Julian centuries from reference date

Terrestrial Magnetosphere

Model GSFC-1283

Dipole field strength: 0.306 Gauss-Re3 Dipole offset: 0.076 Re Surface (1 Re) field strength: 0.24 - 0.66 Gauss

Geomagnetic Poles - Model WMM2020

Geocentric Dipole: 80.65 N, 72.68 W Magnetic North Pole: 86.50 N, 164.04 E

Re denotes Earth model radius, here defined to be 6,378 km

Terrestrial Atmosphere

Surface pressure: 1014 mb Surface density: 1.217 kg/m3 Scale height: 8.5 km Total mass of atmosphere: 5.1 x 1018 kg Total mass of hydrosphere: 1.4 x 1021 kg Average temperature: 288 K (15 C) Diurnal temperature range: 283 K to 293 K (10 to 20 C) Wind speeds: 0 to 100 m/s Mean molecular weight: 28.97 Atmospheric composition (by volume, dry air): Major : 78.08% Nitrogen (N2), 20.95% Oxygen (O2), Minor (ppm): Argon (Ar) - 9340; Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - 420 Neon (Ne) - 18.18; Helium (He) - 5.24; CH4 - 1.94 Krypton (Kr) - 1.14; Hydrogen (H2) - 0.55 Numbers do not add up to exactly 100% due to roundoff and uncertainty Water is highly variable, typically makes up about 1%

Note that the acceleration values given are for the equator and pole.
The standard acceleration of gravity for Earth is defined (CODATA 2018) as 9.80665 m/s2 (exact).

The Moon

For information on the Moon, see the Moon Fact Sheet

Notes on the factsheets- definitions of parameters, units, notes on sub- and superscripts, etc.

Planetary Fact Table- metric units
Planetary Fact Table- U.S. units
Planetary Fact Table- Earth ratio

Earth Page
Directory to other Planetary Fact Sheets

Author/Curator:
Dr. David R. Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov
NSSDCA, Mail Code 690.1
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
+1-301-286-1258

NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov

Last Updated: 15 November 2024, DRW