Earth Fact Sheet


Earth

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 - 1.7
                 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
bullet Notes on the factsheets - definitions of parameters, units, notes on sub- and superscripts, etc.

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


bullet Earth Page
bullet Directory to other Planetary Fact Sheets

NASA
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: 11 January 2024, DRW