Pic: Dreamstime How did the Earth begin? Around 4.6 billion years ago, a cloud of gas and dust swirled around our newly formed Sun. Gradually, the grains of dust and gas were pulled together into clumps by their own gravity. These clumps became the Earth and the other planets in our Solar System. What was the early Earth like? The early Earth was a fiery ball. It took half a billion years for its surface to cool and form a hard crust. As it cooled, the Earth gave off gases and water vapour which formed the atmosphere. 'Scientists have built up a picture of our Solar System's birth, as the planets were slowly formed around the Sun.' How big is the Earth? Satellite measurements show it is 40,030 km around the equator and 12,757 km across. The diameter between the poles is slightly less, by 43 km. The weight of the Earth is 5.972 × 10²⁴ kg, surface area is 510,065,623 km² and volume is 1.08321×10¹² km³. When was the Earth born? Our planet has not always existed. In fact, the E
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