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
Gravity and a magnetic field. Gravity just literally holds the air down like it holds you or your car to the ground, and it’s why helium floats upwards because all the other air is being pulled down below it by gravity
Also, our magnetic field diverts the solar wind away from the surface of the Earth. Other planets and moons that have lesser or no atmospheres sometimes have or had their atmospheres blown away by the solar wind
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