answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

There is no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. It slowly becomes thinner and fades into space. Three quarters of the atmosphere's mass is within 11 km of the planetary surface.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar
More answers
User Avatar

AnswerBot

6mo ago

The boundary of the solar system is hard to define precisely, but it is generally considered to be where the influence of the Sun's gravity gives way to the influence of interstellar space. This region is known as the heliopause, located roughly 120 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Beyond the heliopause lies the vast expanse of interstellar space.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

11y ago

Pluto is often thought to be at the edge of the Solar System. Its orbit takes it an average distance of 3,700 million miles from the Sun. This is about a million times the width of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the United States. However, some comets are thought to travel halfway to the nearest star- a distance of about two light years. That would make the Solar System about four light years across, which is nearly 25 trillion miles.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

11y ago

The Earth's atmosphere stretches from the ground to about 300 miles up, although it is only breathable up to about 30,000 feet (6 miles). The actual atmosphere extends hundreds of miles more into space (the exosphere), but becomes so thin that it is essentially non-existent. For example, the ISS (International Space Station) orbits within the thermosphere, where the atmospheric friction is less than a millionth of what it is on the surface.

We think of the atmosphere as a big ocean of air around us, but the air around us is very thin relative to the size of the earth. The "thickness" of the atmosphere or the distance between the earth's surface and the "top" of the atmosphere is not exactly measurable. With increasing altitude the atmosphere fades slowly away into space. Therefore it is not easy to tell exactly how high the atmosphere rally is. Perhaps 50 kilometers.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

15y ago

The answer is: it depends. NASA claims space starts at 50 miles (80 km), however the Federation Internationale Aeronautique says its at 62 km, which is the altitude reached by Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipOne spacecraft which won the X-Prize to send the first private citizen into space on a private launcher. These are merely legal definitions, however, and not scientific ones.

For instance, at 50 miles, a tenuously thin layer of atmosphere extends up to 300 miles called the thermosphere, and there is debate whether to call this part of the atmosphere or part of the ionosphere or just a sorta thick area of space.

Scientifically speaking the edge of the atmosphere varies according to a number of factors, but all relate to the temperature of the atmosphere, especially that of the upper atmosphere, which is heated by sunlight, but also by the solar wind and solar magnetosphere interacting with the Earth's magnetic field and Van Allen belts to perform a sort of slow microwave roast of the upper atmosphere.

Thus, during Solar Maximum, the uppermost atmosphere (the thermosphere) is hotter than normal and is puffed up, expanded outward, due to this heating. This can increase the drag on satellites and cause them to fall out of orbit.

We are currently in a deep solar minimum of few to no sunspots, little solar wind or magnetic interactions, so the upper atmosphere has cooled significantly and as a result it has contracted downward to a record low altitude.

However the uppermost atmosphere is VERY thin compared to sea level. The thermosphere is so thin that satellites can orbit earth within it at more than 17,000 mph for at least a few months typically.

Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude because, like water pressure in the deep ocean, this is a function of all the air mass piled on top of it. The higher you go, the less air mass above you, so less air pressure.

The peak of Mount Everest (29,035 ft above sea level) is the highest that men have climbed and its peak is in what is called the 'death zone' which has insufficient oxygen for human beings to continue living for more than a short period of time. This is why so many climbers either carry oxygen tanks with them or they spend little time at the peak to avoid significant brain damage. As far as human beings are concerned this is the top of the useful atmosphere.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

There's alot of debate on to where the atmosphere ends, but theres no real fact to where it ends.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

the earths atmosphere ends in the exosphere

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

The Earth`s atmosphere ends at the thermosphere:the edge of the atmoshere.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

60 miles

This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: Where does the solar system end?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

Was Extra debris was swept out away from our solar system by the sun's radiation and solar wind towards the end of the formation of our solar system?

Extra debris was swept out away from our solar system by the sun's radiation and solar wind towards the end of the formation of our solar system.


When did Wonders of the Solar System end?

Wonders of the Solar System ended on 2010-04-04.


How gar is the sun from Pluto?

The sun is in front of the solar system and Pluto is at the far end of the Solar system.


Is there an end to the solar system?

yes there is. a solar system is the sun and everything that revolves around it. and there is many suns out there, one is so big that it makes our sun look like a pinpoint in paper. so yes there is an end to our solar system because there is a begining to another.


Can an exoplanet end up in our solar system?

No. BY definition, an exo-planet is OUTSIDE our solar system, orbiting some other star.


True or false the heliopause marks the end of the solar system?

True. The heliopause is the boundary where the solar wind from the Sun meets the interstellar medium, marking the edge of the solar system. Beyond the heliopause lies interstellar space.


How will it be known when Voyager reaches the end of the solar system and reaches interstellar space?

NASA can predict the speeds of the two Voyager craft very accurately. The main problem is defining where the "end" of the solar system is.


How many satellites are there in your solar system according to 2010 research?

As of the end of 2010, planetary astronomers have documented about 245 known satellites of the planets in the solar system.


What will happen to the solar system march 2012?

In 2012 the solar system will be exactly the same. Because 2012 is just another year there's no such thing as the end of the world


When will the solar system end?

Well, it's estimated that the Sun will have expanded into a red giant star in about 5000 million years. That will destroy much of the inner solar system.Before then it will have made the Earth uninhabitable.However, even then there will be some remains of the solar system. In particular the Sun will have become a white dwarf star.So, I think the end of the solar system as we know itwill be in a few thousand million years.


What do you call the tiny part of our galaxy in our solar system?

"Our solar system." The "part of our galaxy" that's in our solar system is the solar system.


What is your solar system called?

Our Solar System is called the Solar System, Why?, what do you Aliens call it.