(the thermosphere is the layer of the earth’s atmosphere directly above the ‘mesosphere’)
(the ‘exosphere’ is above that but is a minor layer of the ‘atmosphere’)
(within this layer of the ‘atmosphere’, ‘ultraviolet radiation’ causes ‘photoionization’ / ‘photodissociation’ of ‘molecules’, creating ‘ions’ in the ‘ionosphere’)
(the ‘radiative properties’ of ‘UV rays’ cause an imbalance of ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ energy, creating ‘ions’)
(taking its name from the Greek θερμός (pronounced thermos) meaning ‘heat’, the thermosphere begins about 85 kilometres (53 mi) above the ‘earth’)
(at these high altitudes, the residual atmospheric gases sort into ‘strata’ according to ‘molecular mass’ (see ‘turbosphere’))
(‘thermospheric’ temperatures increase with altitude due to absorption of highly energetic ‘solar radiation’)
(temperatures are highly dependent on ‘solar activity’, and can rise to 2,000 °C (3,630 °F))
(‘radiation’ causes the atmosphere particles in this layer to become electrically charged (see ‘ionosphere’), enabling ‘radio waves’ to be ‘refracted’ and thus be received beyond the ‘horizon’)
(in the ‘exosphere’, beginning at 500 to 1,000 kilometres (310 to 620 mi) above the earth’s surface, the atmosphere turns into space, although by the criteria set for the definition of the ‘kármán line’, the ‘thermosphere’ itself is part of space)
(the highly diluted gas in this layer can reach 2,500 °C (4,530 °F) 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 might be significantly below 0 °C (32 °F), at least at night, because the energy lost by ‘thermal radiation’ would exceed the energy acquired from the atmospheric gas by direct contact)
(in the ‘anacoustic zone’ above 160 kilometres (99 mi), the density is so low that molecular interactions are too infrequent to permit the transmission of ‘sound’)
(the dynamics of the ‘thermosphere’ are dominated by ‘atmospheric tides’, which are driven by the very significant ‘diurnal heating’)
(‘atmospheric waves’ dissipate above this level because of collisions between the neutral gas and the ‘ionospheric plasma’)
(the ‘International Space Station’ orbits the ‘earth’ within the middle of the ‘thermosphere’, between 330 and 435 kilometres (205 and 270 mi))
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(***BACK TO “THE MESOPAUSE”***)
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*TABLE OF CONTENTS*
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*”WE WON THE WAR”*
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