• Question: What is the barrier between earth and space?

    Asked by ishyk123 to Ashley on 11 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Ashley Hughes

      Ashley Hughes answered on 11 Nov 2015:

      Hey up Ishy,

      How are you – still being a pain?

      As we said in the chat – I don’t think you can define a barrier per se, it is more an area where we decide it is space. In reality this area isn’t a line it is a gradient. Think about when you go really high, in a plane for example – the air gets thinner…well this just carries on until the air is so think it is practically not there anymore, but there is no wall where on one side there is earths atmosphere and the other there is space.

      I’m sure its more complex than that, as there are also considerations like earth magnet field, which I know next to nothing about!

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line This has a very nice picture showing the definitions of various regions above our heads!

      Take care mate

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