The shell of gas that surrounds our planet Earth, known as the atmosphere, is made up of five main layers. These layers originate on the surface of the planet, from sea level (sometimes below) and rise to outer space in the following sequence:
- Troposphere;
- Stratosphere;
- Mesosphere;
- Thermosphere;
- Exosphere.
Diagram of the main layers of the Earth's atmosphere
In between each of these five main layers are transition zones called "pauses" where changes in temperature, composition and air density occur. Together with the pauses, the Earth's atmosphere includes a total of 9 layers.
Troposphere: where the weather happens
Of all the layers of the atmosphere, the troposphere is the one with which we are most familiar (whether you realize it or not), since we live at its bottom - the surface of the planet. It envelops the surface of the Earth and extends upwards for several kilometers. The word troposphere means "changing the globe." A very apt name, since this layer is where our daily weather takes place.
Starting from the surface of the planet, the troposphere rises to a height of 6 to 20 km. The lower third of the layer, closest to us, contains 50% of all atmospheric gases. It is the only part of the entire composition of the atmosphere that breathes. Due to the fact that the air is heated from below ground surfaceabsorbing the thermal energy of the Sun, the temperature and pressure of the troposphere decrease with increasing altitude.
At the top is a thin layer called the tropopause, which is just a buffer between the troposphere and stratosphere.
Stratosphere: home of the ozone
The stratosphere is the next layer of the atmosphere. It stretches from 6-20 km to 50 km above the earth's surface. This is the layer in which most commercial airliners fly and hot air balloons travel.
Here, the air does not flow up and down, but moves parallel to the surface in very fast air currents. As you climb, temperatures rise, thanks to the abundance of natural ozone (O 3), a byproduct of solar radiation and oxygen that has the ability to absorb the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays (any rise in temperature with altitude in meteorology is known as "inversion") ...
Because the stratosphere has warmer temperatures at the bottom and cooler at the top, convection (vertical movement of air masses) is rare in this part of the atmosphere. In fact, you can view a storm raging in the troposphere from the stratosphere, as the layer acts as a convection "cap" through which storm clouds cannot penetrate.
After the stratosphere, there is again a buffer layer, this time called the stratopause.
Mesosphere: middle atmosphere
The mesosphere is located approximately 50-80 km from the Earth's surface. The upper mesosphere is the coldest natural place on Earth, where temperatures can drop below -143 ° C.
Thermosphere: upper atmosphere
The mesosphere and mesopause are followed by the thermosphere, located between 80 and 700 km above the planet's surface, and contains less than 0.01% of all air in the atmospheric envelope. Temperatures here reach up to + 2000 ° C, but due to the strong rarefaction of the air and the lack of gas molecules for heat transfer, these high temperatures are perceived as very cold.
Exosphere: the border of the atmosphere and space
At an altitude of about 700-10000 km above the earth's surface, there is an exosphere - the outer edge of the atmosphere, bordering on space. Here meteorological satellites revolve around the Earth.
How about the ionosphere?
The ionosphere is not a separate layer, but in fact the term is used to refer to the atmosphere at an altitude of 60 to 1000 km. It includes the uppermost parts of the mesosphere, the entire thermosphere and part of the exosphere. The ionosphere gets its name because in this part of the atmosphere, the sun's radiation is ionized when it passes magnetic fields Land on and. This phenomenon is observed from the ground like the northern lights.
Prominences
The surface of the Sun that we see is known as the photosphere. This is the area where light from the core finally reaches the surface. The photosphere is about 6000 K and glows with white light.
Just above the photosphere, the atmosphere stretches for several hundred thousand kilometers. Let's take a closer look at the structure of the Sun's atmosphere.
The first layer in the atmosphere has a minimum temperature, and is located at a distance of about 500 km above the surface of the photosphere, with a temperature of about 4000 K. This is quite cool for a star.
Chromosphere
The next layer is known as the chromosphere. It is located only about 10,000 km from the surface. In the upper part of the chromosphere, temperatures can reach 20,000 K. The chromosphere is invisible without special equipment that uses narrow-band optical filters. Giant solar prominences can rise to an altitude of 150,000 km in the chromosphere.
A transition layer is located above the chromosphere. Below this layer, gravity is the dominant force. Above the transition region, the temperature rises rapidly because the helium becomes fully ionized.
Solar crown
The next layer is the corona, and it extends from the Sun for millions of kilometers in space. You can see the crown during total eclipsewhen the disk of the star is covered by the Moon. The corona temperature is about 200 times hotter than the surface.
While the temperature of the photosphere is only 6,000 K, at the corona it can reach 1-3 million Kelvin. Scientists still do not fully know why it is so high.
Heliosphere
The upper part of the atmosphere is called the heliosphere. It's a bubble of space filled with solar wind, it stretches for about 20 astronomical units (1 AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun). Ultimately, the heliosphere gradually transitions into the interstellar medium.
part of the sun's atmosphere
Alternative descriptionsHeaddress, which is a symbol of monarchical power
Monarch Attribute
In Russia until 1917 - a precious head ornament of the ruler as a symbol of princely, royal power
Crowns Caesar
Headdress associated with the famous discovery of Archimedes
Sign of royal dignity
One of the monarchical regalia
Halo around the heavenly body
Tsar's naplobuchka
Royal crown adorned with jewels
Royal headdress
Part of a star's atmosphere
The novel by the Russian writer O. P. Smirnov "North ..."
What is a tiara?
Power symbol on the head
Latin "crown"
Monarch's headdress
The elusive ones brought her back
King's crown
Royal crown
A dress fit for a king
Crowns the king
Constellation South ...
Golden crown
Crown (Latin)
The headdress of the king
What the monarch's head is up to
Royal crown
Imperial Jeweled Headpiece
Crown of His Majesty
Sun crown
Royal chocolate brand
Diadem
Solar "head"
The subject of laying on the king's head
Symbol of monarchical power
... (koruna) scalloped decoration on top of the icon's crown
Monarch's hat
Chocolate with a royal name
Precious headpiece
Symbol of royal power
Emperor's crown
Mexican beer
What's on the king's head?
King's hat
Headdress of monarchs
Royal crown adorned with jewels
Jeweled headdress of a palace ceremony
Halo around the heavenly body
J. head jewelry made of gold with expensive stones; This is one of the regalia, accessories of the ruling persons: a crown, a gold rim, arched at the crown, with conventional signs of the degree of the owner's dignity. The papal crown is called the tiara. Iron Lombard crown, late sixth century. Charlemagne and Napoleon I were crowned. Treasury, government. Official from the crown, not by election. Crown of the shaft, parapet, military. its upper plane. The crown will belittle. decoration, in the form of a crown; olon. girlish headdress, ribbon. Crown, related to the crown, state, from the treasury, or state. Crowned, crown-shaped, -shaped, made in the form of a crown. To crown someone, to lay the crown on the head of the sovereign for the first time, to perform the solemn church rite of enthronement; to crown the kingdom. -sya, to be crowned; crown yourself. Crowning Wed coronation w. the performance of this rite; first, meaning actions; the second, in the meaning. events and the celebration itself
Latin "crown"
Royal chocolate brand
The novel by the Russian writer O. P. Smirnov "North ..."
Solar "headwear"
What is a tiara
What's on the king's head
King's crown
Leadership headgear is out of place in the republic
Ushanka - from the peasant, but from the king?
Life experience tells us that the closer we bring our hand to the flame, the hotter the hand will be. However, in space, many things do not work as everyday experience suggests: for example, the temperature of the visible surface of the Sun is "only" 5800 K (5526.85 ° C), but at a distance, in the outer layers of the star's atmosphere, it rises to millions of degrees.
Try to solve this small private problem, known as the Problems of heating the solar corona, one of the unsolved problems modern physics! When the phenomenon was discovered, it seemed to scientists that the solar corona violates the second law of thermodynamics - after all, energy from the inside of the star cannot be transferred to the corona region, bypassing the surface.
Before 2007, there were two main theories to explain the heating of the solar corona. One said that magnetic fields accelerate the corona plasma to incredible energies, due to which it acquires a temperature higher than the surface temperature. The authors of the second theory were inclined to believe that energy bursts into the atmosphere from inside the star.
Research by Bart De Pontieu and his colleagues have shown that shock waves emanating from the interior of a star have enough energy to constantly energize the corona.
In 2013, NASA launched the IRIS probe, which continuously captures the boundary between the sun's surface and the corona at different ranges. His goal was to answer the same question: does the solar corona have one constant source of heat, or does energy enter the sun's atmosphere as a result of many explosions? The difference between these two explanations is very large, but it is very difficult to understand which one is correct due to the enormous thermal conductivity of the corona. As soon as an energy release occurs at a separate point on the Sun, the temperature rises almost instantly by vast territory around this point - and it seems that the temperature of the corona is more or less constant.
But the IRIS device recorded changes in corona temperature with such a small interval that scientists were able to see many "nanoflares" where magnetic lines intersected or superimposed. The question of whether there is a source of thermal radiation that uniformly and constantly heats the corona remains open, but it is now clear that at least part of the energy enters the Sun's atmosphere from internal parts stars as a result of such explosions.
Later, the IRIS observations were confirmed by the EUNIS apparatus. Scientists are now almost certain that the solar corona is heating up precisely because of the many small explosions that release incandescent plasma into the star's atmosphere, the temperature of which is much higher than the temperature of the sun's surface.