EAPS 10200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Thermosphere, Space Debris, Ionosphere
8 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
Layers of the atmosphere: mesosphere, the mesosphere is from 50 km to 80 km (31 to 50 mi) above the surface. It is where shooting stars begin to shine. It is also where space debris, or anything else that enters the atmosphere, begins to burn up. Less than 0. 1% of the atmosphere is in the mesosphere and the temperature begins to drop sharply to -90 c (-130 f) at the top called the mesopause: thermosphere, the thermosphere is 80-140 km (50-400 mi) above the surface. So much of the solar radiation is absorbed in the thermosphere that the temperature can reach as high as 230 c (440 f). The ionosphere is a layer of ionized (charged) particles that have been known to interfere with radio and other communication systems. The magnetosphere also contains charged particles that when the earth"s magnetic field interacts with them creates the northern and southern lights.
