Even a small move closer to the sun could have a huge impact. The closer you are to the sun, the hotter the climate. Ī less dramatic shift in Earth's orbit would primarily affect the planet's temperature. All that would change pretty fast if the orbit stopped, burning up the planet and everything on it as the planet moved increasingly closer to the sun. It's constantly falling toward the sun, but moving too fast to actually reach it. Our giant tennis ball of a planet moves around the sun at a crisp 18.5 miles (29.8 kilometers) per second. The harder you throw it, the faster the ball moves and the farther it travels before being pulled to the ground. Picture yourself throwing a tennis ball off a roof. That's because our planet's path around that big, bright star in the sky is what keeps Earth from being pulled in directly by the sun's gravity. Without any orbit, Earth would likely go crashing directly into the sun. If Earth were to change its orbit – maybe because the sun somehow disappeared or another, larger object entered the solar system and exerted a stronger pull – it would very likely mean the end of life as we know it. That's what causes us to take a lap around the sun every year. Similarly, the sun, which has a diameter roughly 100 times that of Earth, exerts a gravitational pull on all of the planets in our solar system. It's our planet's gravitational pull that keeps humans, animals, buildings and other forms of matter grounded. It's a natural phenomenon that attracts objects to one another. Gravity isn't just the name of a Sandra Bullock flick. You might not be able to feel it, but Earth is moving right now. That includes the fact that our planet is constantly circling the sun. There are also a wide variety of natural wonders happening right under our noses that many of us take for granted. From the stunning majesty of the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China to the inexplicable popularity of electronic dance music and that reality show about a bunch of rich ladies in New Jersey, there's no shortage of reminders of how strange and wonderful life on Earth is. The planet on which we live is a pretty amazing place.
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