Читать книгу Exploring the Solar System - Peter Bond - Страница 66

Earth is our home, the most familiar planet in the Solar System. Of the four terrestrial planets, it is the largest and has the highest bulk density. It also has a strong magnetic field and thick atmosphere, which protect the planet from solar and cosmic radiation, and an ozone layer which acts as a barrier to solar ultraviolet light. Its unique nitrogen‐oxygen atmosphere also contains greenhouse gases that maintain an equable temperature. Earth is also the only world in the Solar System where conditions are right for large bodies of liquid water to exist on the surface. It is the only planet that is known to support life.