PLANET PROFILE EARTH

“WITH ITS THICK ATMOSPHERE AND YELLOW SUNLIGHT, MUCH OF EARTH’S VEGETATION IS GREEN”

A rather pretty blue-and-white planet orbiting an otherwise obscure G-type main sequence star, Earth is notable largely for being the only place in the universe to have evolved organic life. Other than this quirk of chemistry, the third planet from the Sun also has active plate tectonics, and it’s one of the few planets whose moon fits perfectly over its Sun during an eclipse, leading to some fantastic sights. It is the densest planet in its Solar System, and the largest of the four rocky planets closest to its star. An atmosphere 100 kilometres (62 miles) thick coats the planet, offering it protection from ultraviolet light given out by its nearest star thanks to its layer of ozone. Heating of the upper atmosphere means it’s slowly losing its hydrogen and helium into space, but at a very slow rate.

With its thick atmosphere and yellow sunlight, much of