There are multiple reasons. The image is iconic, famous and is one of the few true photographic images of Earth. It has also been a featured image since November 2004. Other images may present more detail of the land masses, but they are generally composite or processed images. For some previous discussions see (1234567).
Q.
Why does the article not have mostly harmless as its short description or otherwise summarize the article's content using it?
A.
This has been discussed several times including (12345). The consensus is that it fails WP:42.
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I will point out that the density of astronomical objects is largely given in g/cm³ and not kg/m³ by astronomers. However, Earth is of course the one astronomical object which is of interest to many fields beyond astronomy, so whether or not an exception can/should be made for units here can be argued either way. ArkHyena (talk) 22:23, 13 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Good point. The source in the stat did use kg/m^3 though. ✨ΩmegaMantis✨blather 00:05, 14 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Plus, iirc, using SI, density is kg/m^3, irregardless of what convention some astronomers may prefer.72.16.97.19 (talk) 04:29, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It is more generally fitting to use the convention researchers of a given article's topic use, so in this case all astronomy-related articles (except Earth now, given its outlier status) have densities given in g/cm³ instead of kg/m³. ArkHyena (talk) 04:55, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have changed the density units to g/cm3 for consistency with other articles, so comparisons can be made easily. This is the recommendation currently given by Wikipedia:WikiProject Astronomy/Manual of Style#Units, though this MOS is still in the process of solidifying, so input on the talk page there is welcome. As to whether the Earth should be an exception, its overall density is mostly only of interest in astronomy and planetary science and related fields. Chemistry and geology and whatnot I would expect to be more interested in the densities of specific substances on the Earth. But chemists firmly use g/cm3 and from our articles on minerals it looks like geologists do, too, so I'm not sure there's actually much disagreement between fields here. Maybe the NASA source cited in this case is just not following the prevailing professional convention. Heh, and maybe not the first time NASA was confused about units. -- Beland (talk) 03:21, 21 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Fair point, I was mistaken about the usage of kg/m³ in other fields concerned with the bulk properties it seems! Regardless, I've added a comment stating that planetary densities should be (and, in literature, are) given in g/cm³ instead of kg/m³. ArkHyena (talk) 06:14, 21 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Semi-protected edit request on 02 April 2024[edit]
Hi, I suggest adding a wiki hyperlink to the notion "tidal interaction" in the subsection "Earth–Moon system". There is a wiki page about this phenomenon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_force
Sorry this is my first time doing this kind of request. So, if I did something wrong, I'm sorry and please tell how I can do this better if you can. Have a nice day to you all :) Filuo (talk) 15:25, 2 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Filuo Done Thanks for proposing the change and happy editing! 🇺🇲JayCubby✡ please edit my user page! Talk 14:49, 8 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Where in the Earth Infobox can i find the diameter from earth? Or is it me.[edit]
Where in the Earth Infobox can i find the diameter from earth? Or is it me. Rouzee Gino (talk) 22:49, 16 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Well it's not there, but you could always just multiply the radius by two.. Flemmish Nietzsche (talk) 23:56, 16 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This I know thank you. The point is: if you search for it by diameter on Google it’s not there. But if you do the search in Dutch it’s there. So younger people search on diameter. This is my point.
The Earth approximates slightly squashed ellipsoid. It'd perhaps be informative to include its radius at N & S poles AND at the Equator at 0°, 90°,180°, and 270° as well as the minimum and maximums and both with and without considering sea level. Anyway, it doesn't have "a" diameter. I'm not even sure that the gravitational center is exactly on the spin-axis, but it's not likely to be exactly midway between the North Pole (surface) and South Pole. Also, "average" is a bit ambiguous. Mean? Median? is the distribution sufficiently close to normal (gaussian) so that the standard deviation would be useful? If so, include em, I say.72.16.97.19 (talk) 04:38, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The note about ice shelfs, etc. is misplaced. It should be added to Land area and Ocean Area and removed from the total area. As far as total area, should there be a note that mentions that as the planet ages, it accumulates mass from space and also is shrinking due to cooling (and degassing)? That is, the total area does change with time. ? Why not? 72.16.97.19 (talk) 04:44, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Why does Wikipedia specify densities for all of the other planets in grams per cubic centimeter but specifies Earth's density in kg per cubic meter? Shouldn't these be consistent? Etr52 (talk) 03:42, 19 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
See the messages above. Remsense诉 03:48, 19 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Just letting you know, it has been fixed. Eason Y. Lu (talk) 03:08, 21 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
preferably change all mentions of "earth" to "terra" but that isn't very necessary yet Tygical (talk) 04:46, 31 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately, this will not be happening per WP:COMMONNAME—on Wikipedia, we use the most recognizable names for a general audience.Remsense诉 04:52, 31 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]