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 same reason you don’t float off into space. Gravity is holding it down.
Most of the things that don’t have an atmosphere are smaller, and therefore exert lower gravity than the Earth. There are some other factors as well – like a magnetosphere providing “shielding” against solar wind – but gravity is by far the most important one.
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