The terrestrial planets of our solar system.
Earth’s most abundant element in both the crust (46%) and the ocean (86%) is oxygen. Elements 91, protactinium, and 85, astatine, are among the rarest on the planet - Earth’s total reserves of the latter are thought to total less than 1 ounce.
I guess you are asking me ‘what’s the most interesting thing about Earth?’ Wow, that is a hard (yet easy) question.
Off the top of my head I would say the diversity and abundance of life is incredible, and the fact that everywhere we look, we find life. Extremophiles can live in extreme conditions, and deep ocean life can live without hardly any sunlight at all. There are even polyextremophiles that can live in multiple extreme conditions (check out the water bear!) and I love that life seems to find a way to thrive.
I mean just about every fact about the earth is incredbile: 70% is water; we are in the goldilocks zone; our tilt provides seasons; we have tectonic plates forming amazing mountains and earthquakes; our atmosphere. We have butterflies, whales, bacteria, decomposers, marine life, birds, photosynthesis, bioluminescence, echolocation, great migrations, tides, spawning, coral reefs, trees, sexual selection, primates, etc.
I find everything about Earth incredible.
I completely love Earth.
Rough size comparison of Jupiter, Earth, and the “Great Red Spot”.
Earth & Moon.
Taken from Mercury’s orbit by Messenger.
Late, big bombardments brought heavy metals to Earth
One of the fundamental problems in planetary science is trying to determine how planetary bodies in the inner solar system formed and evolved. A new computer model suggests that huge objects – similar to the size of large Kuiper Belt Objects like Pluto and Eris — likely pummeled the Earth, Moon and Mars during the late stages of planetary formation, bringing heavy metals to the planetary surfaces.
This model – created by various researchers from across the NASA Lunar Science Institute — surprisingly answers many different puzzles across the Solar System, such as how Earth could retain metal-loving, elements like gold and platinum found in its mantle, how the interior of the Moon could actually be wet, and the strange distribution in the sizes of asteroids.
Read the full article at Universe Today
Looking Back at an Eclipsed Earth
Credit: Mir 27 Crew; Copyright: CNESExplanation: Here is what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse. The shadow of the Moon can be seen darkening part of Earth. This shadow moved across the Earth at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour. Only observers near the center of the dark circle see a total solar eclipse - others see a partial eclipse where only part of the Sun appears blocked by the Moon. This spectacular picture of the 1999 August 11 solar eclipse was one of the last ever taken from the Mir spacestation. The two bright spots that appear on the upper left are thought to be Jupiter and Saturn. Mir was deorbited in a controlled re-entry in 2001.
Chilling.
…and I can’t believe there’s anything like this.
We. Live. On. This.
The dark-sky movement is a campaign by people who want to reduce light pollution so people can see the stars, to reduce the effects of unnatural lighting on the environment, and to cut down on energy usage.
Click link for more, and check out Earth’s first dark-sky community: The Channel Island Of Sark (80 miles south of England) here.
This Is the Apocalyptic Storm Hitting the US Right Now
Get ready, because the snowpocalypse is back. This snow storm system is huge. NASA Goddard has released this amazing image, showing how it looks from space—bloody scary, that’s how.
