The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth creates pressure, absorbs most meteoroids and ultraviolet solar radiation, warms the surface through heat retention, and reduces temperature extremes between day and night, maintaining conditions allowing life and liquid water to exist on the Earth's surface.
Blue light is scattered more than other wavelengths by the gases in the atmosphere, surrounding Earth in a visibly blue layer at the stratosphere, above the clouds of the troposphere, when seen from space on board the ISS at an altitude of 335 km (208 mi) (the Moon is visible as a crescent in the far background).
Afterglow of the troposphere (orange), the stratosphere (blue) and the mesosphere (dark) at which atmospheric entry begins, leaving smoke trails, such as in this case of a spacecraft reentry
A picture of Earth's troposphere with its different cloud types of low to high altitudes casting shadows. Sunlight is reflected off the ocean, after it was filtered into a redish light by passing through much of the troposphere at sunset. The above lying stratosphere can be seen at the horizon as a band of its characteristic glow of blue scattered sunlight.
Temperature trends in two thick layers of the atmosphere as measured between January 1979 and December 2005 by microwave sounding units and advanced microwave sounding units on NOAA weather satellites. The instruments record microwaves emitted from oxygen molecules in the atmosphere. Source:
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter. The others are solid, liquid, and plasma. A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms, elemental molecules made from one type of atom, or compound molecules made from a variety of atoms. A gas mixture, such as air, contains a variety of pure gases. What distinguishes gases from liquids and solids is the vast separation of the individual gas particles. This separation usually makes a colorless gas invisible to the human observer.
Drifting smoke particles indicate the movement of the surrounding gas.
Shuttle imagery of re-entry phase
21 April 1990 eruption of Mount Redoubt, Alaska, illustrating real gases not in thermodynamic equilibrium.
Boyle's equipment