Atmosphere
hideAn atmosphere (from Greek ατμός - atmos, 'vapor' + σφαίρα - sphaira, 'sphere') is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, by the gravity of the body, and are retained for a longer duration if gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low. Some planets consist mainly of various gases, but only their outer layer is their atmosphere (see gas giants).
The term stellar atmosphere describes the outer region of a star, and typically includes the portion starting from the opaque photosphere outwards. Relatively low-temperature stars may form compound molecules in their outer atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere, which contains oxygen used by most organisms for respiration and carbon dioxide used by plants, algae and cyanobacteria for photosynthesis, also protects living organisms from genetic damage by solar ultraviolet radiation. Its current composition is the product of billions of years of biochemical modification of the paleoatmosphere by living organisms.
For more information about Atmosphere, read the full article at
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News tagged with atmosphere
A Tale of Planetary Woe (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
22 hours ago |
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Once upon a time — roughly four billion years ago — Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth. Liquid water flowed on the Martian surface in long rivers that emptied into shallow seas. A thick atmosphere blanketed ...
A bubbling ball of gas (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 11, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (16) |
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The Sun is a bubbling mass. Packages of gas rise and sink, lending the sun its grainy surface structure, its granulation. Dark spots appear and disappear, clouds of matter dart up - and behind the whole thing ...
Carbon Atmosphere Discovered on Neutron Star
Nov 04, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (19) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Evidence for a thin veil of carbon has been found on the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. This discovery, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, resolves a ten-year ...
Texas A&M prof to predict weather on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 04, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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Is there such a thing as "weather" on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. Mars, however, definitely has clouds, drastically low temperatures and ...
NRL sensor provides critical space weather observations
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle, Oct. 18, 2009, the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI) developed by NRL's Space Science ...
STAR TRAK for November: Mars is prominent again
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 02, 2009 |
4 / 5 (2) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Pumpkin-colored Mars will return to prominence during November, rising shortly before midnight at the beginning of the month and more than two hours earlier by month's end. The orange planet ...
'Ultra-primitive' particles found in comet dust
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 02, 2009 |
5 / 5 (8) |
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Dust samples collected by high-flying aircraft in the upper atmosphere have yielded an unexpectedly rich trove of relicts from the ancient cosmos, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution. The stratospheric ...
Solar winds triggered by magnetic fields
Nov 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Solar wind generated by the sun is probably driven by a process involving powerful magnetic fields, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers based on the ...
The Sun's Sneaky Variability
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Every 11 years, the sun undergoes a furious upheaval. Dark sunspots burst forth from beneath the sun's surface. Explosions as powerful as a billion atomic bombs spark intense flares of high-energy radiation. ...
LADEE Mission to Study the Moon's Fragile Atmosphere
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 26, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
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Right now, the Moon is a ghost town. Nothing stirs. Here and there, an abandoned Apollo rover — or the dusty base of a lunar lander — linger as silent testimony to past human activity. But these days, only ...
NASA Researchers Explore Lightning's NOx-ious Impact on Pollution, Climate
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 23, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (10) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, scientists learn something new about the inner workings of lightning. With satellites, they have discovered that more than 1.2 billion lightning flashes occur around the world ...
Treaty to limit CO2 should be followed by similar limits on other greenhouse pollutants
Oct 22, 2009 |
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When world leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to hash out a treaty limiting carbon dioxide emissions, they should begin planning a future summit to address other pollutants - from soot to ozone - that don't remain in ...
Orionids Meteor Shower Lights Up the Sky
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 21, 2009 |
4 / 5 (4) |
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Earth is currently passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, lighting up the night sky with the "fireworks" of the annual Orionids meteor shower.
Astronomers do it Again: Find Organic Molecules Around Gas Planet (w/ Video)
Oct 20, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (15) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Peering far beyond our solar system, NASA researchers have detected the basic chemistry for life in a second hot gas planet, advancing astronomers toward the goal of being able to characterize ...
Tropical Storm Nepartak becoming extra-tropical at sea
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 13, 2009 |
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Tropical Storm Nepartak is now speeding in a northeasterly direction in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, where it is becoming extra-tropical and developing frontal qualities.
