Your location - a brief orientation in space

Typical galaxies range from dwarfs with as few as ten million (107) stars up to giants with one trillion (1012) stars, all orbiting the galaxy's center of mass. Galaxies can also contain many multiple star systems, star clusters, and various interstellar clouds. The Sun is one of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy; the Solar System includes the Earth and all the other objects that orbit the Sun.

Welcome to Planet Earth

Credit: Apollo 17 Crew, NASA. - Explanation: Welcome to Planet Earth, the third planet from a star named the Sun.The Earth is shaped like a sphere and composed mostly of rock. Over 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water. The planet has a relatively thin atmosphere composed mostly of nitrogen and oxygen. The below picture of Earth, dubbed Blue Marble, was taken from Apollo 17 in 1972 and features Africa and Antarctica. It is thought to be one of the most widely distributed photographs of any kind. Earth has a single large Moon that is about 1/4 of its diameter and, from the planet's surface, is seen to have almost exactly the same angular size as the Sun. With its abundance of liquid water, Earth supports a large variety of life forms, including potentially intelligent species such as dolphins and humans. Some of these humans make funny noises. Thats what they call music. Please enjoy your stay on Planet Earth.

The atmospheric pressure on the surface of the Earth averages 101.325 kPa, with a scale height of about 8.5 km. It is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with trace amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gaseous molecules. The height of the troposphere varies with latitude, ranging between 7 km at the poles to 17 km at the equator, with some variation due to weather factors.

Earth's biosphere has significantly altered its atmosphere. Oxygenic photosynthesis evolved 2.7 billion years ago, forming the primarily nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere that exists today. This change enabled the proliferation of aerobic organisms as well as the formation of the ozone layer which, together with Earth's magnetic field, blocks ultraviolet solar radiation, permitting life on land. Other atmospheric functions important to life on Earth's include transporting water vapor, providing useful gases, causing small meteors to burn up before they strike the surface, and moderating temperature.

This last phenomenon is known as the greenhouse effect: trace molecules within the atmosphere serve to capture thermal energy emitted from the ground, thereby raising the average temperature. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and ozone are the primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Without this heat-retention effect, the average surface temperature would be −18 °C and life would likely not exist. So there would be no funny noise.

Where You Are

May be you are alien, stranded on this planet. May be your spacecraft broke. May be your timejourney is interrupted. This may take the edge off the feeling of disorientation by giving you an approximate idea about your actual location.

Here are three very basic rules, how to behave. First: when tagging, make shure to use watersoluble colours only. Second: the younger civilization greets first. Third: beware of the vogons.