01:750:109 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Solar Wind, Atmospheric Pressure, Aurora
9 Nov 2018
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Document Summary
Molecules tend to scatter blue light more than red. Earth is the only planet with a layer of uv-absorbing ozone molecules. Those same molecules protect us from sun"s uv light. Atmosphere scatters blue light from sun, making it appear to come from all directions. Sunsets are red because red light scatters less. Blue gets dispersed (light enters and changes direction), red and orange go through. Shine light on moonstone, looks blue, but light that goes through stone is yellowish-red. The blue light in sunlight scatters more than the red light. More dense at bottom than at top (push down on bottom layers) The weight of material at the top creates higher pressure and density at the bottom. Visible light passes through the atmosphere and warms a planet"s surface. The atmosphere absorbs infrared light from the surface, trapping heat. A planet"s surface temperature is determined by the balance between energy from sunlight it absorbs and energy of outgoing thermal radiation.
