the.com/thermosphere
the sky layer that hits 2500°C yet would feel freezing on your skin
means The layer of Earth's atmosphere above the mesosphere, roughly 80 to 600 km up, where the thin gas absorbs solar radiation and soars to extreme temperatures.
from Built from Greek 'thermos' (hot) — the same root behind 'thermometer' and the vacuum 'thermos' flask — plus 'sphaira' (ball, globe), source of 'sphere.' A modern scientific coinage following the pattern of 'atmosphere' and 'stratosphere,' it names the hottest layer for what it does: drink in the Sun's energy and burn.
- home turf
- the ISS and most satellites orbit here
- aurora factory
- northern and southern lights ignite in this layer
- thin air
- so sparse heat barely transfers to objects
- huge range
- stretches from 80 up to 700 kilometers high
- shape-shifter
- swells and shrinks with solar activity
international space station — orbits at 408 km altitude within the thermosphere, where temperatures reach 1,500 k
aurora borealis — occurs 100-300 km altitude in thermosphere as solar wind interacts with atmosphere over arctic regions
space shuttle reentry — spacecraft experience extreme heating passing through thermosphere at 25,000 km/h friction temperatures