AST-1002 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Ozone Layer, Ionosphere, Thermosphere
Document Summary
The universe created - 15 billion years ago. Our sun, and the solar system - 4. 6 billion years ago. The sun - our lone star - just as any other star, was formed when gravity pulled together a cloud of interstellar gas. Every planet in our solar system is composed of varieties of elements, with different ones concentrated at different depths. The separation between rock and metal or any other pair of substances in a planet occurs because higher density objects sink below lower density ones. An earth sized world w/ such a mix of high and medium mass elements would have a density of around 5500kg/m^3. The stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which protects us from the sun"s harmful uv radiation. The troposphere contains most of earth"s air and water, and virtually all of our weather. The ionosphere, also called the thermosphere, reflects radio waves back to earth.
