The Earth

               The Earth

The third rocky planet in the solar system, Earth, is a unique globe. It is the only place in space known to support highly diverse biological life. We humans are only a small part of it. Our planet was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago. It is estimated that several dozen million years after its formation, a gigantic catastrophe occurred. The young planet was hit by a powerful object, perhaps even the size of Mars. As a result, a large piece of the Earth was thrown into space. However, it did not fly into space, but continues to orbit our globe as the Moon. We owe an important thing to the moon: the lengthening of the day. When the Earth was created, the day on it lasted only six hours. Later, however, its rotational motion began to be slowed down by the gravitational influence of the Moon. 600 million years ago the day lengthened to 21.9 hours. It currently averages 24 hours. The day continues to lengthen, albeit at a slow rate of 1.6 milliseconds per century. Currently, we know about 1.2 million species of various living organisms. However, there are probably many more. Scientists estimate that between 8.7 and 12 million. Our knowledge of Earth is far from complete. Especially what lies beneath its surface is still a source of many surprises. Because although we know the parts that make up the Earth, i.e. the crust, mantle and core, the deeper we go into its depths, the more secrets we discover.