The Ideal “Street”

No less “prime” is earth’s “street,” or orbit within our solar system “city.” About 93 million miles from the sun, this orbit is in what scientists call the circumstellar habitable zone, where life neither freezes nor fries. Moreover, earth’s path is almost circular, keeping us roughly the same distance from the sun year-round.

The sun, meanwhile, is the perfect “powerhouse.” It is stable, it is the ideal size, and it emits just the right amount of energy. For good reason, it has been called “a very special star.”

The earth itself orbits the sun at 18.5 miles [30 km] a second,