The Earth is a member of the Solar System. It is one
of nine major planets revolving round the Sun. Of these,
Mercury and Venus are nearer, and Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are farther away from the
Sun than the Earth.
The planets radiate no light of their own, but shine
with that reflected from the Sun. The Sun has a diameter
of 864,000 miles (1,390,000 Kms) and it is 93,000,000 miles
(150,000,000 Kms) from the Earth. The Sun is a star. The
stars, unlike the planets, are self-luminous bodies. The
other stars appear small because they are so far away;
the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is 200,000 times more
distant from us than the Sun.
The Moon is a dead planet. It is about 240,000 miles
(386,000 Kms) from the Earth. The Moon revolves round
the Earth taking approximately 29 days to complete one
round. The phases of the Moon are the result of its
position in relation to the Earth and the Sun.
The Moon’s orbit is ecliptical and inclined at an
angle of 5o to the plane of the Earth’s orbit. This explains
why we do not have a total eclipse of the Sun every time
there is a new moon.