Location of Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, orbiting within the Solar System’s habitable zone in the Milky Way’s Orion Arm.

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Solar System: The Sun and the gravitationally bound objects that orbit it. Earth occupies the third planetary orbit within this system.
Kepler's laws of planetary motion: Three laws describing how planets orbit the Sun, including their elliptical paths and changing orbital speeds. They describe the geometry and pace of Earth’s annual orbit.
Circumstellar habitable zone: The range of distances from a star where a planet could support liquid water on its surface under suitable conditions. Earth orbits within the Sun’s estimated habitable zone.
Venus: The second planet from the Sun, with a dense carbon-dioxide atmosphere and a surface hotter than Mercury’s. Its orbit lies closer to the Sun than Earth’s and inside the habitable zone’s inner edge.
Milky Way: The barred spiral galaxy that contains the Solar System. Earth’s galactic address lies within this galaxy.
Newton's law of universal gravitation: The law stating that every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to distance squared. It explains the gravitational force that keeps Earth bound to the Sun.
Earth analog: A planet with physical properties broadly similar to those of Earth. Earth’s orbital setting provides a benchmark for comparing potentially habitable planets.
Mars: The fourth planet from the Sun, a cold terrestrial world with a thin atmosphere. Its orbit lies farther from the Sun than Earth’s, near the habitable zone’s outer edge.
Earth's orbit: The path Earth follows around the Sun, with an average orbital distance of about 150 million kilometers. Its size and shape establish Earth’s position relative to the Sun.
Solar orbit: The Sun’s motion around the center of the Milky Way under the Galaxy’s gravitational influence. Earth travels with the Sun through the Orion Arm.