Our Planet
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:18 pm
Jason St. Pierre, Rogue historian. Sometime astrophysicist. Usually bored, says...
"Be glad you are here!"
So it turns out Earth is really freakin’ weird.
It’s in a solar system with irregularly spaced planets
Not only that, the planets in its system have very different sizes
Earth is - so far - the only world known to have solid, liquid,
and gaseous water on its surface
Earth’s moon is enormous, especially for such a small planet
Not only that, but the Moon’s diameter is only about 1/4 the diameter
of the Earth - that’s the second closest ratio of planet size to moon size known
Earth has a very strong magnetic field for such a small planet
Earth has active plate tectonics - the only world currently known to have those
Earth is the only known world with an oxygen-rich atmosphere
Earth is one of only three worlds known to have dunes on its surface
Of course, the Earth is the only known world that currently has life
Because of that, the Earth is a ridiculously strong radio source - in fact there
are parts of the radio spectrum where the Earth is brighter than the Sun
Granted, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, but we’re stuck on a strange little ball
of rock hurtling through space. Of course, it remains to be seen just how unusual
these things are, given that the study of exoplanets is still in its infancy.
"Be glad you are here!"
So it turns out Earth is really freakin’ weird.
It’s in a solar system with irregularly spaced planets
Not only that, the planets in its system have very different sizes
Earth is - so far - the only world known to have solid, liquid,
and gaseous water on its surface
Earth’s moon is enormous, especially for such a small planet
Not only that, but the Moon’s diameter is only about 1/4 the diameter
of the Earth - that’s the second closest ratio of planet size to moon size known
Earth has a very strong magnetic field for such a small planet
Earth has active plate tectonics - the only world currently known to have those
Earth is the only known world with an oxygen-rich atmosphere
Earth is one of only three worlds known to have dunes on its surface
Of course, the Earth is the only known world that currently has life
Because of that, the Earth is a ridiculously strong radio source - in fact there
are parts of the radio spectrum where the Earth is brighter than the Sun
Granted, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, but we’re stuck on a strange little ball
of rock hurtling through space. Of course, it remains to be seen just how unusual
these things are, given that the study of exoplanets is still in its infancy.