Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Space & Astronomy > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Space & Astronomy

Earth's atmosphere extends beyond the Moon

By T.K. Randall
February 24, 2019 · Comment icon 3 comments

The atmosphere is much more extensive than we thought. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 Open Space Project
A new study has revealed that our planet's atmosphere extends further in to space than was previously believed.
It turns out that the furthermost reaches of the atmosphere - a region known as the 'geocorona' which is comprised of a thin cloud of hydrogen atoms - extends a whopping 390,000 miles out in to space.

It stretches so far out in fact that it even encompasses the orbit of the moon.

The discovery was made thanks to a new analysis of data recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) which launched in 1995 to study the sun and space weather.
"The moon flies through Earth's atmosphere," said study lead author Igor Baliukin. "We were not aware of it until we dusted off observations made over two decades ago by the SOHO spacecraft."

The existence of the geocorona is certainly nothing new - the astronauts on NASA's Apollo 16 mission even managed to photograph it from the lunar surface all the way back in 1972.

What's surprising is just how far it extends out in to space.

"At that time, the astronauts on the lunar surface did not know that they were actually embedded in the outskirts of the geocorona," said study co-author Jean-Loup Bertaux.

Source: Space.com | Comments (3)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by mdbuilder 5 years ago
Fascinating. It is also, however, an example of the fallibility of scientific certainty...
Comment icon #2 Posted by Jon the frog 5 years ago
So the moon is slowing down by is friction with this thin atmosphere. Look promising !
Comment icon #3 Posted by Unfortunately 5 years ago
Actually, in my opinion, I believe it shows science at its best.  Constantly pushing at the boundaries of what we believe to be real based on what we've already confirmed to be real is where science shines, along with being the methodology leading to how humanity as a whole has evolved intellectually.  It's pretty great.  Wonderful discovery! Very cool to know this could potentially lead us to other fascinating things.


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Recent news and articles