Answer:
6 THINGS THAT MAKE LIFE ON EARTH POSSIBLE
Earth is well equipped as a planet and ideally placed in our solar system and galaxy to support life as we know it. The product of some 4.6 billion years of cosmic construction, our planet is flush with life thanks to a fortuitous set of conditions.
BY MANUEL CANALES, MATTHEW W. CHWASTYK, AND EVE CONANT
MANUEL CANALES, MATTHEW W. CHWASTYK, SOREN WALLJASPER, RYAN T. WILLIAMS, NGM STAFF; SEAN MCNAUGHTON
ART: ANTOINE COLLIGNON, TOMÁŠ MÜLLER
SOURCES: PETER D. WARD, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON; KATE MAHER, STANFORD UNIVERSITY; KARINA A. YAGER, NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER; JASON BARNES, UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO, GUILLERMO GONZALEZ, BALL STATE UNIVERSITY; MICHAEL GOWANLOCK, NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY; ICARUS; ASTROBIOLOGY; NASA/JPL; INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ASTROBIOLOGY
20,000
light-years
10,000
light-years
CORE
YOU ARE HERE
SOLAR SYSTEM
Proxima Centauri
AD Leonis
Eta Cassiopeiae A, B
Altair
Eta Cassiopeiae A, B
Altair
SUN
Procyon A, B
Alpha Centauri A, B
Sirius A, B
Delta Pavonis
SUN
Relative size
of the Earth
Solar flare
NEPTUNE
URANUS
SUN
EARTH
MERCURY
About 93 million miles
from Earth to Sun
VENUS
WE HAVE A BIG MOON TO
STABILIZE OUR AXIAL WOBBLE
MOON
EARTH
The moon is a
relatively large
2% of the Earth’s
volume.
