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The name for our planet's shape is an 'oblate spheroid', which is like a sphere squashed slightly in one direction (like if you press down on a soccer ball on the floor; Smarties are also oblate spheroids but squashed down a lot more than the earth.) If the earth didn't spin around once a day it would be a sphere since gravity has been working long enough on the planet, and it pulls all parts of the planet inwards equally so eventually it ends up mostly spherical (after some stages in the evolution of the solar system). But since it also spins, the centrifugal force is greatest around the equator, so it pulls the middle of the earth out slightly into a bulge. I may be wrong, but i think this is a characteristic common to all of the planets in the solar system, maybe barring Uranus, since its axis of rotation points towards the sun. Hope this helps ;)
From Dr Octavian.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Wiki User
∙ 6y agoIt is correctly described as a geoid, which a slightly circular description, but the closest simple shape that describes it is an oblate spheroid, that is an ellipse rotated about its minor axis.
In simple terms it's (almost) a sphere.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoEarth's Shape Is A Circle. Of Course Everyone Knows That.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoOblate spheroid, having both flat poles.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoThe earth is an oblate spheroid.
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoSpherical
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What shape are sun earth and other planets?
They would be considered as 'spherical' celestial bodies. round
Does the earth and other planets revolve around the sun?
yes, the earth and other planets revolve around the sun
The suns gravitational pull causes the earth and other planets to the sun?
All the planets in the solar system are kept in orbit by the gravitational pull of the sun. The effect of the other planets and other bodies in the solar system is to change the shape of the orbits slightly but the sun is what keeps them in orbit around the sun.
What are Earth and the other planets closest to the sun are made mostly of?
Earth and the other planets are mostly made of rock.
What is the actual shape of the Earths orbit around the Sun?
The actual shape of the earth's orbit around the sun is horrendously complicated. Partly because the earth does not orbit the sun and also because the orbit is influenced by the the gravitational attraction of the other planets. The earth does not orbit the sun: the centre of mass of the earth-sun system is at one of the foci of an ellipse whose eccentricity is 0.0167. The eccentricity varies from 0.0034 to 0.058.
What shape of a sun and earth and other planets?
sphere
The Sun the earth and remaining planets are roughly in shape?
the sun earth and the remaining planets are roughly spherical in shape.
What shape are sun earth and other planets?
They would be considered as 'spherical' celestial bodies. round
Does the earth and other planets revolve around the sun?
yes, the earth and other planets revolve around the sun
The suns gravitational pull causes the earth and other planets to the sun?
All the planets in the solar system are kept in orbit by the gravitational pull of the sun. The effect of the other planets and other bodies in the solar system is to change the shape of the orbits slightly but the sun is what keeps them in orbit around the sun.
How important is the sun to earth and the other planets?
we would die if the sun burned out. so yes it is important to earth and the other planets
What shape are The Sun - the Earth - and Mars?
The Sun and its planets are all basically spheres. The earth is an 'oblate sphere' - that it, it is flattened at the poles.
What has to do with the sun?
earth and all the other planets
About the distance of the earth from the sun its size shape age inclimation density and other properties?
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sun&Display=Facts
What are Earth and the other planets closest to the sun are made mostly of?
Earth and the other planets are mostly made of rock.
What are Earth and the other planets closest to the sun are made mostly?
Earth and the other planets are mostly made of rock.
Name of the orbit around the sun?
The SHAPE of the orbit the Earth and most planets and other bodies of mass in space are usually elliptical.
