Exosphere

It is important before referring to the exosphere to also know where the term comes from. This word is formed by the prefix exo that refers to what is ” outside ” and the Greek word sphaîra which translated into Spanish means ” sphere “. The exosphere is the outer region of the atmosphere and begins at a distance of between 300 and 1,000 kilometers from the surface and extends up to 10,000 kilometers. The exosphere or exosphere, is the last layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, in place in which the fluids spread slowly, making its configuration very similar to what we can observe in it outer space.. It is located above the thermosphere , approximately 950 and even 1000 km in elevation, and it keeps interacting with outer space. This atmospheric region is very far from the earth’s surface, in this area the temperature remains stable without undergoing any type of variation and the air tends to lose its physicochemical properties .

Characteristics of the exosphere

• It is the layer of the Earth ‘s atmosphere that has the lowest density . It is located above the thermosphere and is in contact with outer space : which is why scientists refer to it as a transit point between the atmosphere and interplanetary space .
• Some gases that are in this layer can escape and go to outer space due to the little amount of gravity that is in it. These gases generally diffuse in a vacuum .
• The heat can not be transferred in this layer because it has very few particles due to the high density having the air. Temperature is closely related to the average speed of atoms and molecules in a gas: the higher the speed of the particles, the higher the temperature.
• The particles found in the exosphere have the ability to move very quickly .
• Many artificial satellites are orbiting there , mainly meteorological satellites .
• In this layer atmospheric gases such as oxygen and nitrogen are practically absent and in it we can barely observe the existence of some particles of matter.
• The bodies present in the exosphere can become heated if they are illuminated by a large amount of solar rays .
• It is located at an altitude of 530 kilometers from sea level, and in it atmospheric gases such as oxygen and nitrogen are non-existent .
• It is the largest layer in the entire atmosphere, it is the area most inspected by artificial satellites and this layer does not exert any influence on meteorological events .

Composition of the exosphere

The exosphere is made up of pure plasmatic material , and in it the ionization of the particles is responsible for establishing whether the attraction of the Earth’s magnetic force is higher than that of the gravitational force , which is why it is sometimes also called the magnetosphere . In it, the particles of the lightest gases contain a medium speed allowing each of the gases to migrate towards interplanetary space , preventing the gravitational power of the Earth from being able to retain them. The structure of the exosphere is formed primarily by light gases such as hydrogen.,carbon dioxide , atomic oxygen, and helium . All the gases mentioned above are so light that they have the ability to escape the gravitational magnetic force of the Earth, spreading freely around space.

Function of the exosphere

The function of the exosphere is to serve as a means of transition to an area without gases or apparent gravity and also helps atoms to escape from the atmosphere to outer space.

Temperature

Through their research, scientists use the average speed of the molecules or atoms of a gas to measure the temperature in the exosphere . When these particles move very fast, the temperature of this layer becomes very hot. When the particles move more slowly, the temperature is cooler. However, the particles that exist in it move very fast, so that the temperature is quite hot .

Importance

The exosphere is an important layer of the atmosphere as it functions as a transit zone between the earth’s atmosphere and outer space . In addition, it is the layer in which we can find the artificial satellites that carry out constant studies of the earth and outer space. It also acts as a transit zone into outer space.