Why doesn’t the atmosphere (air we breathe) just float off into space?
Some objects in space have atmospheres like Earth and Jupiter. Others like asteroids and the moon don’t have an atmosphere.
Why doesn’t earth atmosphere just drift away into space?
What am I missing about the concept of atmosphere?
In: Planetary Science
The Earth’s gravity pulls down on the atmosphere and keeps it from floating away. Also the Earth’s magnetic field deflects energetic particles coming from the sun. This stops those particles from stripping the Earth’s atmosphere.
Objects in our Solar system that lack an atmosphere are usually less massive than the Earth, so they don’t have as much gravity, and they lack a strong magnetic field, so they aren’t protected from high energy particles coming from the sun.
Latest Answers