Since a collection of gas molecules may be moving at a wide range of velocities, there will always be some fast enough to produce a slow leakage of gas into space. The term stellar atmosphere describes the outer region of a star and typically includes the portion above the opaque photosphere. Atmosphere's implementation has a total memory footprint roughly 0x28000 bytes smaller than Nintendo's. [/caption]What is the atmosphere? Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. It is held near the surface of the planet by Earth's gravitational attraction. Wind picks up dust and other particles which, when they collide with the terrain, erode the relief and leave deposits (eolian processes). Unsurprisingly, diners at all levels reported that food was the most important factor in their decision to recommend a restaurant, but the atmosphere was a major consideration, at least for the upscale and luxury dining groups. Although Mars' atmosphere used to be thick enough for water to run on the surface, today that water is either scarce or non-existent. It is only the thing that keeps you from being burned to death every day, helps to bring the rain that our plants need to survive, no to mention it holds the oxygen that you need to breath. [clarification needed]. When meteoroids do impact, the effects are often erased by the action of wind. The exosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. Atmosphere's implementation uses a 32KB heap, which should not be exhaustible. The exosphere begins variously from about 690 to 1,000 km above the surface, where it interacts with the planet's magnetosphere. Here the particles are so far apart that they can travel hundreds of km without colliding with one another. The depth of this layer varies between 17 km at the equator to 7 km at the poles. This article is about an atmosphere of a celestial body. The third atmosphere came into play when the planet began to stretch its legs, so to speak. Because the troposphere is the lowest atmosphere layer, it contains 75 percent of the atmosphere’s mass. Lighter molecules move faster than heavier ones with the same thermal kinetic energy, and so gases of low molecular weight are lost more rapidly than those of high molecular weight. The Kármán line, located within the thermosphere at an altitude of 100 km, is commonly used to define the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. See no ads on this site, see our videos early, special bonus material, and much more. Without an atmosphere, the planet has no protection from meteoroids, and all of them collide with the surface as meteorites and create craters. Besides providing us with something to breathe, the atmosphere helps make life on Earth possible in several ways. The atmosphere is very thin compared to the size of the Earth. 75% of the atmospheric mass is within 11 km of the surface. Based on the relative volumes of the gases in Earth’s atmosphere, nitrogen is actually more than 3 times more than oxygen. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), about an alternative idea about the atmosphere’s origin, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Earth's atmosphere is a mixture of gases that surrounds our home planet. While the atmosphere becomes thinner the higher you go, there is no clear line demarcating the atmosphere from space; however, the Karman line , at 100 km, is often regarded as the boundary between atmosphere and outer space. Venus's atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide with thick clouds of sulfur, which render the surface too hot to support any known form of life. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atmosphere&oldid=991485324, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from April 2016, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from September 2017, Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎, Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 30 November 2020, at 08:54. Above it is the heterosphere or exosphere. See more. The exosphere is the last bastion of the atmosphere. The atmosphere helps to protect living organisms from genetic damage by solar ultraviolet radiation, solar wind and cosmic rays. Here on Universe Today we have a great article about an alternative idea about the atmosphere’s origin. The Earth is a sphere with a roughly 8000 mile diameter; the thickness of the atmosphere is about 60 miles. Its atmosphere is heated to temperatures over 1,000 K, and is steadily escaping into space. Frost and precipitations, which depend on the atmospheric composition, also influence the relief. Each of the layers has a different lapse rate, defining the rate of change in temperature with height. An atmosphere is more likely to be retained if the gravity it is subject to is high and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. All of these gases combine to absorb ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and warm the planet’s surface through heat retention. The atmosphere is also responsible for the aurora borealis. The atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% water vapor, and a minute amount of other trace gases like argon, and carbon monoxide. This is where the International Space Station orbits. This creates a gravity field that shapes the atmosphere. The lowest layer is the troposphere, which extends from the surface to the bottom of the stratosphere. Surface gravity differs significantly among the planets. The easiest way to think about the atmosphere above our planet is to imagine an invisible shield that protects our planet from all the bad stuff that floats around in the universe. Earth’s atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and one percent other gases. The ozone layer ranges in altitude between 15 and 35 km, and is where most of the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun is absorbed. One of the main components of Earth’s interdependent physical systems is the atmosphere. The atmosphere is created by the earth’s magnetic field which emerges from the earth’s interior. Thus, distant and cold Titan, Triton, and Pluto are able to retain their atmospheres despite their relatively low gravities. The top of the mesosphere, ranges from 50 to 85 km, and is the layer wherein most meteors burn up. The presence oxygen began to appear apparently from being released by photosynthesizing algae. Other astronomical bodies such as sun, moon, Mercury, etc have known atmospheres. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in every direction. The thermosphere extends from 85 km to the base of the exosphere at 400 km and contains the ionosphere, a region where the atmosphere is ionized by incoming solar radiation. Summary about Structure and Composition of Atmosphere. In space research and exploration, atmospheric drag affects both the entry into orbit via rocket … Other mechanisms that can cause atmosphere depletion are solar wind-induced sputtering, impact erosion, weathering, and sequestration—sometimes referred to as "freezing out"—into the regolith and polar caps. Join our 836 patrons! Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Secondly, the distance from the Sun determines the energy available to heat atmospheric gas to the point where some fraction of its molecules' thermal motion exceed the planet's escape velocity, allowing those to escape a planet's gravitational grasp. The mesosphere extends to about 85 km. Moving upward from ground level, these layers are named the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere. The air is a poor conductor of heat. Atmosphere definition, the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth; the air: a weather balloon rising high into the atmosphere. An atmosphere (from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmos), meaning 'vapour', and σφαῖρα (sphaira), meaning 'ball' or 'sphere'[1][2]) is a layer or a set of layers of gases surrounding a planet or other material body, that is held in place by the gravity of that body. The ozone layer high in the Earth’s atmosphere blocks much of this radiation from reaching the surface. Dry air from Earth's atmosphere contains 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and traces of hydrogen, helium, and other "noble" gases (by volume), but generally a variable amount of water vapor is also present, on average about 1% at sea level.[8]. However, over the past 3 billion years Earth may have lost gases through the magnetic polar regions due to auroral activity, including a net 2% of its atmospheric oxygen. The atmosphere may just look like one vast blue thing above, but a lot happens up there. ", "Hubble Probes Layer-cake Structure of Alien World's Atmosphere", Properties of atmospheric strata - The flight environment of the atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere has a series of layers, each with its own specific traits. The second atmosphere began to develop around 2.7 billion years ago. Free oxygen did not exist until about 1.7 billion years ago and this can be seen with the development of the red beds and the end of the banded iron formations. Earth and Titan are known to have liquids at their surface and terrain on the planet suggests that Mars had liquid on its surface in the past. This region consists of layers or shells of gases. For example, the large gravitational force of the giant planet Jupiter retains light gases such as hydrogen and helium that escape from objects with lower gravity. It keeps the average temperature of the earth steady. The Earth’s atmosphere performs a couple of cool optical tricks. [6] As a result, craters are rare on objects with atmospheres. The circulation of the atmosphere occurs due to thermal differences when convection becomes a more efficient transporter of heat than thermal radiation. The atmosphere on Mars may be much thinner than on Earth, but it remains intact enough to cause weather, clouds, and wind. The Earth's atmosphere is an extremely thin sheet of air extending from the surface of the Earth to the edge of space. Objects that have no atmosphere, or that have only an exosphere, have terrain that is covered in craters. An atmosphere is more likely to be retained if the gravity it is subject to is high and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. The atmosphere protects us from this space junk that would do damage to us, to our homes, and to the earth itself. The current composition of the Earth's atmosphere is the product of billions of years of biochemical modification of the paleoatmosphere by living organisms. Atmosphere definition is - the gaseous envelope of a celestial body (such as a planet). In addition, since liquids can not exist without pressure, an atmosphere allows liquid to be present at the surface, resulting in lakes, rivers and oceans. Atmospheres have dramatic effects on the surfaces of rocky bodies. The density of the atmosphere decreases outward, because the planet’s gravitational attraction, which pulls the gases and aerosols inward, is greatest close to the surface. The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering which means as light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. An atmosphere is the layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body. Conversely, studying the surface of the Earth leads to an understanding of the atmosphere and climate of other planets. Without the atmosphere there could be no life on Earth. Other bodies within the Solar System have extremely thin atmospheres not in equilibrium. Our atmosphere is the layers of gases surrounding the earth. Often during spring and summer, weather patterns cause giant dust devils, kicking up the oxidized iron dust that covers its surface, giving Mars its signature red hue. How to use atmosphere in a sentence. It is thought that Venus and Mars may have lost much of their water when, after being photodissociated into hydrogen and oxygen by solar ultraviolet radiation, the hydrogen escaped. The mass of the atmosphere is around 5×1018kg. For such a model atmosphere, the pressure declines exponentially with increasing altitude. A literary technique, atmosphere is a type of feeling that readers get from a narrative, based on details such as setting, background, objects, and foreshadowing.A mood can serve as a vehicle for establishing atmosphere. The effects of reentry can be felt at 120 km. The lower level is called the homosphere. 3 letter words The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, commonly known as air, retained by Earth's gravity, surrounding the planet Earth and forming its planetary atmosphere. Most meteoroids burn up as meteors before hitting a planet's surface. For a meteorologist, the composition of the Earth's atmosphere is a factor affecting the climate and its variations. The atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% water vapor, and a minute amount of other … From the perspective of a planetary geologist, the atmosphere acts to shape a planetary surface. Earth's atmosphere is the only one in the solar system capable of supporting life. The atmosphere thins out in each higher layer until the gases dissipate in space. Atmosphere, the gas and aerosol envelope that extends from the ocean, land, and ice-covered surface of a planet outward into space. 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