This graphic depicts Earth’s upper atmosphere. It shows at the bottom a partial Earth globe with the Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere layers labeled rising above, the temperature difference as you increase in altitude from Earth for both solar minimum and solar maximum periods, the atmospheric penetration of the various spectral wavelengths entering the atmospheric system, the density of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide as you increase in altitude from the Earth, and the approximate height within the ionosphere of the D, E and F levels. Above all this is a partial Sun globe. Credit: John Emmert/Naval Research Lab
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