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The thermosphere is the layer of the earth's atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere

The Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by the Earth's gravity. Dry air contains roughly 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, and trace amounts of other gases....
 directly above the mesosphere
Mesosphere

The mesosphere is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. The mesosphere is located from about 50 km to 80-90 km altitude above the Earth's surface....
 and directly below the exosphere
Exosphere

The exosphere is the uppermost layer of an atmosphere. In the exosphere, an upward travelling molecule can escape to space or be pulled back to the celestial body by gravity with little probability of colliding with another molecule....
. Within this layer, ultraviolet radiation causes ion
Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule which has lost or gained one or more electrons, giving it a positive or negative electrical charge. According to the Bohr_model this will be from or in the outer shield 'n'....
ization.

The thermosphere, named from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 ?e?µ?? (thermos) for heat, begins about 90 km
Kilometre

The kilometre , symbol km is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres.Slang terms for kilometre include click and kay ....
 above the earth. At these high altitudes, the residual atmospheric gases sort into strata according to molecular mass
Molecular mass

The molecular mass of a chemical compound, frequently referred by the older term molecular weight and abbreviated as MW, is the mass of one molecule of that substance, relative to the unified atomic mass unit u ....
 (see turbosphere). Thermospheric temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
s increase with altitude due to absorption of highly energetic solar radiation by the small amount of residual oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
 still present.






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The thermosphere is the layer of the earth's atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere

The Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by the Earth's gravity. Dry air contains roughly 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, and trace amounts of other gases....
 directly above the mesosphere
Mesosphere

The mesosphere is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. The mesosphere is located from about 50 km to 80-90 km altitude above the Earth's surface....
 and directly below the exosphere
Exosphere

The exosphere is the uppermost layer of an atmosphere. In the exosphere, an upward travelling molecule can escape to space or be pulled back to the celestial body by gravity with little probability of colliding with another molecule....
. Within this layer, ultraviolet radiation causes ion
Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule which has lost or gained one or more electrons, giving it a positive or negative electrical charge. According to the Bohr_model this will be from or in the outer shield 'n'....
ization.

The thermosphere, named from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 ?e?µ?? (thermos) for heat, begins about 90 km
Kilometre

The kilometre , symbol km is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres.Slang terms for kilometre include click and kay ....
 above the earth. At these high altitudes, the residual atmospheric gases sort into strata according to molecular mass
Molecular mass

The molecular mass of a chemical compound, frequently referred by the older term molecular weight and abbreviated as MW, is the mass of one molecule of that substance, relative to the unified atomic mass unit u ....
 (see turbosphere). Thermospheric temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
s increase with altitude due to absorption of highly energetic solar radiation by the small amount of residual oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
 still present. Temperatures are highly dependent on solar activity, and can rise to 1,500°C
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
. Radiation causes the atmosphere particles in this layer to become electrically charged (see ionosphere
Ionosphere

The ionosphere is the uppermost part of the Earth's atmosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere....
), enabling radio wave
Radio Wave

Radio Wave may refer to:*Radio frequency*Radio Wave 96.5, a radio station in Blackpool, UK...
s to bounce off and be received beyond the horizon. At the exosphere
Exosphere

The exosphere is the uppermost layer of an atmosphere. In the exosphere, an upward travelling molecule can escape to space or be pulled back to the celestial body by gravity with little probability of colliding with another molecule....
, beginning at 500 to 1,000 km above the earth's surface, the atmosphere turns into space
Outer space

Outer space comprises the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. Outer space is used to distinguish it from airspace and terrestrial locations....
.

The few particles of gas in this area can reach 2,500 °C (4532°F
Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit , who proposed it in 1724. Today, the scale has largely been replaced by the Celsius scale; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other countries such as Belize....
) during the day. Even though the temperature is so high, one would not feel warm in the thermosphere, because it is so near vacuum that there is not enough contact with the few atoms of gas to transfer much heat. A normal thermometer
Thermometer

The thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles; it comes from the Greek language roots thermo, heat, and meter, to measure....
 would read significantly below 0 °C.

The upper region of this atmospheric layer is called the ionosphere.

The dynamics of the lower thermosphere (below about 120 km) are dominated by atmospheric tide
Atmospheric tide

Atmospheric tides are global-scale periodic oscillations of the atmosphere. In many ways they are analogous to ocean tides. Atmospheric tides can be excited by:...
, which is driven, in part, by the very significant diurnal heating. The atmospheric tide dissipates above this level since molecular concentrations do not support the coherent motion needed for fluid flow.

The International Space Station
International Space Station

The International Space Station is a research facility Assembly of the International Space Station in outer space. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998, and is scheduled to be complete by 2011, with operations continuing until around 2015....
 has a stable orbit within the upper part of the thermosphere, between 320 and 380 kilometers. The auroras
Aurora (astronomy)

Auroras, sometimes called the northern and southern lights or aurorae , are natural light displays in the sky, usually observed at night sky, particularly in the Geographical pole....
 also occur in the thermosphere.

See also

  • Kármán Line
    Karman line

    The K?rm?n line lies at an altitude of 100 km above the Earth's sea level, and is commonly used to define the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space....
  • Thermopause
    Thermopause

    The Thermopause is the Earth's atmosphere boundary of Earth's energy system, located at the top of the thermosphere.Below this, the atmosphere is defined to be active on the insolation received, due to the increased presence of heavier gases such as monoatomic oxygen....
  • Ionosphere
    Ionosphere

    The ionosphere is the uppermost part of the Earth's atmosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere....
  • Van Allen Belt
  • Troposphere
    Troposphere

    The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. It contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass and almost all of its water vapor and particulate....
  • Stratosphere
    Stratosphere

    The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down....