6 facts
Every day, countless tiny particles of cosmic dust, remnants from comets and asteroids, enter Earth's atmosphere. Most burn up as meteors, but the surviving dust adds a significant amount of extraterrestrial material to our planet.
The outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere, the exosphere, fades into space, but the geocorona can be detected up to 390,000 miles away. This means the outermost reach of our atmosphere extends beyond the Moon's orbit.
Phytoplankton, tiny marine plants, perform photosynthesis, converting sunlight into energy and releasing oxygen as a byproduct. These microscopic organisms are responsible for an estimated 50-85% of the oxygen in our atmosphere.
When viewed from space, the Sun emits light across the entire visible spectrum, making it appear white. Its yellow appearance from Earth is due to atmospheric scattering, which removes blue light, making it seem warmer in color.
While they appear light and fluffy, clouds are made of tiny water droplets. A typical cumulus cloud, about a kilometer across, contains hundreds of tons of water, equivalent to several blue whales, despite floating effortlessly.
Due to the way Martian dust scatters light, the blue light penetrates the atmosphere more efficiently than other colors. This creates a striking blue hue around the setting sun, a stark contrast to Earth's familiar red sunsets.