Jakarta –
When you go up to a high mountain, oxygen levels have started to run low. Even to climb the highest mountain, oxygen cylinders are needed to ensure the safety of the climbers. In that case, where is the end of the earth? Isn’t that really how far the boundaries of Earth and space are?
To answer it, we must understand about the layers of the atmosphere on Earth. Each layer of the atmosphere plays a role in ensuring our planet can host all kinds of life, doing everything from blocking cosmic radiation to creating the pressure needed to produce water.
“As you get further away from Earth, the atmosphere becomes less dense,” said Katrina Bossert, a space physicist at Arizona State University. Live Science.
“The composition also changed, and lighter atoms and molecules began to dominate, while heavier molecules remained closer to the Earth’s surface.”
When you move up atmosphere, the pressure, or weight of the atmosphere above will weaken rapidly. Although commercial airplanes have pressurized cabins, rapid changes in altitude can affect the thin eustachian tube that connects the ear to the nose and throat.
“This is why your ear can burst during takeoff on an airplane,” said Matthew Igel, assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of California.
Eventually, the air became too thin to be flown by conventional aircraft. With such an aircraft, it is not capable of generating sufficient lift. Therefore, there are areas that have been designated by scientists as the end of our atmosphere and the beginning of space.
This is known as karma line, named after Theodore von Kármán, a Hungarian American physicist, in 1957. He was the first to try to define the boundary between Earth and space. So, where is this line?
“This is usually defined as 100 kilometers above Earth,” Igel said.
However, that does not mean the earth’s atmosphere is no longer beyond this 100 km distance. There are thousands of kilometers before Earth’s atmosphere is no longer detectable. If one reached the Kármán line, one might not even notice. Apart from that, there was no sign of any thickness.
Watch the video “China Will Launch First Space Telescope Next Year“
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
(ask/afr)
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