Science Common Sense
1808 - How does the Earth move in space
Imagine you're on a big train, and the train is moving really fast. That's kind of like what the Earth is doing in space.
The Earth is actually doing two main things:
- It's rotating: This means the Earth is spinning around itself, like a top. That's why we have day and night, because different parts of the Earth are facing towards or away from the sun.
- It's orbiting: This means the Earth is moving around the sun in a big circle, like a planet on a train track. It takes the Earth 365 days to complete one full circle around the sun, which is why we have one year.
The Earth is also moving with the sun and the other planets in the Milky Way galaxy, like a bunch of cars on a big highway. But that's a bit too complicated to explain now.