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Planet Earth seen from Messenger. Image credit: NASA
The speed of Earth’s rotation is 1,674.4 km/h or 1,040.4 miles per hour at the equator. Another way to measure it is 465.1 meters per second.
In other words, when you’re standing on the surface of the Earth at the equator, you’re moving through space at a speed of 1,674.4 kilometers per hour. And you thought you never went anywhere. The speed of rotation changes depending on where you’re standing on Earth. It’s the fastest speed when you’re standing at the equator, and then decreases as you go to the poles. When you’re standing on the north or south pole, you only turn around once a day.
Space agencies exploit the speed of the Earth’s rotation at the equator to launch rockets. By launching a rocket from near the equator, it’s already going almost 1,700 km/h just when it launches, so it takes less fuel, or can carry a heavier load into orbit. That’s why NASA’s Cape Canaveral is in Florida, and the European Space Agency’s launch facility is in South America.
We’ve written many articles about planetary rotation for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the rotation of Saturn, and here’s an article about the rotation of Jupiter.
If you’d like more info on Earth, check out NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide on Earth. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
We’ve also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast just about Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.
About Fraser Cain
Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay.
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