Line #6 UsefulNotes/Earth


1	%%
2	%%
3	%% DON'T REPLACE THIS PAGE WITH "MOSTLY HARMLESS" - we already have that at JustForFun/Earth.
4	%%
5	%%
6	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1542950580026087300
7	%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
8	%%
9	[[quoteright:274:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blue_marble_2002.png]]
10	[[caption-width-right:274:[[Creator/CarlSagan The only home we've ever known]].]]
11	[floatboxright:
12	'''Profile'''
13	* Diameter: 12,742 km
14	* Mass: 1 Earth (5.97237×10
15	⁴ kg)
16	* Density: 5.514 g/cm³
17	* Surface Gravity: 1 g (9.807 m/s
18	)
19	* Semi-major Axis: 1 AU (149,598,023 km)
20	* Orbital Period: 365 Days
21	* Rotational Period: 24 Hours
22	* Axial Tilt: 23.44°
23	* Average Surface Temperature: 15° C
24	* Atmospheric Pressure: 1 atm (101.325 kpa)
25	* Number of Moons: 1
26	]
27
28	->"''You realize our planet's name means '''dirt''', right?''"
29	-->-- '''Rick Sanchez''', ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''
30
31	The Earth (also known as Terra, Tellus, Gaia, or countless other names[[note]]For obvious reasons, every language has a name for this planet. The International Astronomical Union recognizes “Earth” as its English name, but the Latin and Greek alternatives are quite popular in English-language science fiction.[[/note]]) is the planet we all live on. It is the most ConvenientlyClosePlanet. It is the only planet Website/TVTropes exists on as of this writing. All tropers were born and live on Earth, unless we have someone currently on the International SpaceStation (in that case, hello from below, how are you). There are over eight billion humans living on Earth. To learn more about Earth, all you have to do is [[RealLife go outside]], but [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife we don't blame you if you don't want to]].
32
33	Earth is really weird when compared to the other planets. The first and most obvious difference is it is the only known place life exists. It is the most tectonically active[[note]]having volcanoes and earthquakes, etc[[/note]] planet in the Solar System (Io is more active, but it's [[UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter a moon of Jupiter]]). It has the largest moon in comparison to its parent body's size in the solar system. Earth is the only planet with vast oceans of liquid water on the surface.
34
35	The human race [[UsefulNotes/{{Evolution}} evolved on Earth]] OR [[{{Panspermia}} arrived there at some point in the past]] OR [[CreationMyth was placed here]] by ThePowersThatBe. [[HiddenInPlainSight It took us a while to realize]] that we were on a planet, and not [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse the center of the universe]]. It took us a bit to realize it was round, not [[FlatWorld flat]] (but not as long [[WesternAnimation/HareWeGo as Bugs Bunny would have you believe]]), that it spun around on its own, and that it went around the Sun — not the other way around.
36
37	The Earth is the standard we use to measure the universe with. The atmospheric pressure and gravity are considered "1" when compared to other planets, which are either higher or lower than that number. We call dirt "earth", even when talking about the dirt on other planets.[[note]]Then again, the common noun "earth" predates the proper name "Earth" in English as well as various other languages; most cultures simply knew Earth as "the world" or some similar term — again, because it took us a '''long''' time to realize it's just as much of a planet (i.e. moving object) as Venus, Mars, and other long-recognized planets in our sky.[[/note]] Our moon is called simply ''the'' "Moon"[[note]]occasionally "Luna", which is Latin for "Moon"[[/note]], since we named it before learning of any others. We measure the distances around the solar system in "Astronomical Units" ([=AU=]) — the distance from the Sun to the Earth. We measure distances outside the solar system in either light-years, the distance light travels in the time it takes Earth to orbit the Sun once, or parsecs[[note]]about 3.26 light-years[[/note]], the distance where the [[MotionParallax parallax angle]] measured from opposite sides of Earth's orbit is one arc-second.
38
39	With alien life undiscovered, scientists needn't agree on a name for Earth's living things, but we have contenders. The two most popular are probably "Earthling", which dates back to [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish Early Modern English]], and "Terran", which comes from the planet's Latin name "Terra".
40
41	For the "[[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Mostly Harmless]]" version of this article, see [[JustForFun/{{Earth}} JustForFun: Earth]].
42
43	!The Earth in Fiction
44	All fiction is set on Earth [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted unless otherwise specified]] — because of this a list of fiction set on Earth would be incredibly unwieldy and encompass probably 95% of works. This is because MostWritersAreHuman and they [[WriteWhatYouKnow write what they know]]. Fiction set off Earth is usually called {{Fantasy}} or ScienceFiction, unless [[SciFiGhetto it's not]]. We also have tropes specifically about Earth itself, all listed on ThisIndexEarth, and PlanetaryTropes also includes several tropes that either can apply to Earth or involve comparison between it and another (often fictional) planet.
45

Context UsefulNotes / Earth