Earth's Atmosphere 'Far Larger' than Scientists Had Believed

[mystery-ak]

Earth's Atmosphere 'Far Larger' than Scientists Had Believed
By Michael Walsh February 23, 2019



Whoops!

    The Earth's atmosphere is far bigger than we had realised, scientists have announced. The outermost part of our atmosphere reaches nearly twice as far as the Moon and is about 50 times as big as our own planet, new research has shown.

    “The Moon flies through Earth’s atmosphere,” says Igor Baliukin of Russia’s Space Research Institute, lead author of the paper presenting the results. “We were not aware of it until we dusted off observations made over two decades ago by the SOHO spacecraft.”

    At the boundary of own atmosphere and outer space, there is a cloud of hydrogen atoms that scientists refer to as the geocorona. One of the instruments on the SOHO spacecraft found the signature of that border, allowing it to detect exactly where it is. That can only be done at certain times, and the new research is the result of fortunate timing that allowed the spacecraft to spot the edge.

Well, as Hamlet says, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." For decades now the anti-industrial Left has been trying to convince us that the atmospheric science is settled -- that the planet is either getting hotter, colder, or both, or neither, or something -- and therefore we should accept their cocksure-yet-crackpot notions in order to give up our carbon-based lifestyles (never mind that we ourselves are carbon-based life forms; the Left is essentially a suicide cult), become vegans, murder our children, and die.

Now along comes this new discovery, and suddenly it's plain to see that there's still much so we don't know about just about everything.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/earths-atmosphere-far-larger-than-scientists-had-believed/

[Elderberry]

Exosphere - overview



https://scied.ucar.edu/shortcontent/exosphere-overview



The exosphere is the uppermost region of Earth's atmosphere as it gradually fades into the vacuum of space. Air in the exosphere is extremely thin - in many ways it is almost the same as the airless void of outer space.

The layer directly below the exosphere is the thermosphere; the boundary between the two is called the thermopause. The bottom of the exosphere is sometimes also referred to as the exobase. The altitude of the lower boundary of the exosphere varies. When the Sun is active around the peak of the sunspot cycle, X-rays and ultraviolet radiation from the Sun heat and "puff up" the thermosphere - raising the altitude of the thermopause to heights around 1,000 km (620 miles) above Earth's surface. When the Sun is less active during the low point of the sunspot cycle, solar radiation is less intense and the thermopause recedes to within about 500 km (310 miles) of Earth's surface.

Not all scientists agree that the exosphere is really a part of the atmosphere. Some scientists consider the thermosphere the uppermost part of Earth's atmosphere, and think that the exosphere is really just part of space. However, other scientists do consider the exosphere part of our planet's atmosphere.

Since the exosphere gradually fades into outer space, there is no clear upper boundary of this layer. One definition of the outermost limit of the exosphere places the uppermost edge of Earth's atmosphere around 190,000 km (120,000 miles), about halfway to the Moon. At this distance, radiation pressure from sunlight exerts more force on hydrogen atoms than does the pull of Earth's gravity. A faint glow of ultraviolet radiation scattered by hydrogen atoms in the uppermost atmosphere has been detected at heights of 100,000 km (62,000 miles) by satellites. This region of UV glow is called the geocorona.

Below the exosphere, molecules and atoms of atmospheric gases constantly collide with each other. However, air in the exosphere is so thin that such collisions are very rare. Gas atoms and molecules in the exosphere move along "ballistic trajectories", reminiscent of the arcing flight of a thrown ball (or shot cannonball!) as it gradually curves back towards Earth under the pull of gravity. Most gas particles in the exosphere zoom along curved paths without ever hitting another atom or molecule, eventually arcing back down into the lower atmosphere due to the pull of gravity. However, some of the faster-moving particles don't return to Earth - they fly off into space instead! A small portion of our atmosphere "leaks" away into space each year in this way.

Although the exosphere is technically part of Earth's atmosphere, in many ways it is part of outer space. Many satellites, including the International Space Station (ISS), orbit within the exosphere or below. For example, the average altitude of the ISS is about 330 km (205 miles), placing it in the thermosphere below the exosphere! Although the atmosphere is very, very thin in the thermosphere and exosphere, there is still enough air to cause a slight amount of drag force on satellites that orbit within these layers. This drag force gradually slows the spacecraft in their orbits, so that they eventually would fall out of orbit and burn up as they re-entered the atmosphere unless something is done to boost them back upwards. The ISS loses about 2 km (1.2 miles) in altitude each month to such "orbital decay", and must periodically be given an upward boost by rocket engines to keep it in orbit.

[Dexter]

I knew this information would be abused by these websites the moment I encountered it. Us understanding more about a thing does not necessarily change the views of scientists. This is not groundbreaking in the sense that it contradicts what the scientists are saying about AGW, and if it was the scientists would reconsider their positions. There is not a conspiracy.

[Wingnut]

That is the one thing about science.  It is never settled.

[Bill Cipher]

I knew this information would be abused by these websites the moment I encountered it. Us understanding more about a thing does not necessarily change the views of scientists. This is not groundbreaking in the sense that it contradicts what the scientists are saying about AGW, and if it was the scientists would reconsider their positions. There is not a conspiracy.

Why do you continue believing in something - AGW - for which there is no evidence?   Why do you go from the fact the climate is changing - something that should be as uncontroversial as the fact the Sun rises in the East - and engraft upon it a theory that is like phrenology in both the lack of evidence for it and the passion and fanaticism of its adherents?

[IsailedawayfromFR]

That is the one thing about science.  It is never settled.

That's because the guy who created it all knows a bit more than we will ever know.