Hydroxyl radicals are critical for offsetting concentrations of methane in the air.
Published Dec 8, 2018
Twenty years ago this month, astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery used the spacecraft's robotic arm to launch the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite into orbit around the Earth.
Published Sep 24, 2011
City lights sprawl across Earth’s surface below a constant glow in the upper atmosphere.
Published Oct 23, 2018
Over 20 years, more than 550 small asteroids streaked across our skies.
Published Nov 21, 2014
Sounding rockets probe the way auroras and solar activity affect the atmosphere.
Published Feb 3, 2015
From a vantage point about 360 km (225 miles) over the Earth, Space Station crewmembers photographed the crescent moon through the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere. At the bottom of the image, a closed deck of clouds is probably at about 6 km (3 miles). The shades of blue grading to black are caused by the scatter of light as it strikes gas molecules of the very low density upper atmosphere.
Published Feb 23, 2004
Atmospheric gases scatter blue wavelengths of visible light more than other wavelengths, giving the Earth’s visible edge a blue halo. At higher and higher altitudes, the atmosphere becomes so thin that it essentially ceases to exist. Gradually, the atmospheric halo fades into the blackness of space. This astronaut photograph captured on July 20, 2006, shows a nearly translucent moon emerging from behind the halo.
Published Feb 2, 2007
Astronauts captured this unusual view of a Perseid meteor descending into Earth's atmosphere in August 2011.
Published Aug 17, 2011
Using instruments aboard NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite(UARS), scientists measured humidity high in the atmosphere.
Published Mar 16, 2004
At the boundary between Earth and space, particles and gases and energy do an intricate and colorful dance that varies daily.
Published Jan 7, 2020
A pair of sounding rockets took aim at the aurora over Svalbard, Norway, to help scientists understand how Earth loses oxygen into space.
Published Dec 17, 2018
Orbiting the Earth at nearly 17,000 miles per hour, NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) is collecting spectacular new three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface and atmosphere.
Published Dec 10, 2003
Some of the most breathtaking views of Earth taken from space are those that capture our planet’s limb.
Published Apr 2, 2003
Researchers probed the auroral wind by shooting instruments into them in February 2013.
Published Feb 9, 2013
The tiny amount of water vapor in our atmosphere has an outsized influence on the planet as a potent greenhouse gas.
Published Oct 7, 2010
Long before man journeyed to the moon and looked back at the tiny, fragile planet that houses humanity, lunar orbiters were sending back pictures of home.
Published Nov 15, 2008
