The Mesosphere

In the Earth's mesosphere, the air masses are relatively mixed together and the temperature decreases with altitude. Atmospheric temperatures reach the lowest average value of around -90°C in the mesosphere. This is also the layer in which a lot of meteors burn up while entering the Earth's atmosphere.

The mesosphere extends from the top of the stratosphere (the stratopause, located at about 50 kilometers) to an altitude of about 90 kilometers.

Upper reaches of the atmosphere, such as the mesosphere, can sometimes be detected by looking at the limb of a planet as shown in this image.

This is an image which shows the Earth and its atmosphere. The mesosphere is the dark blue edge towards the right side of the image.
Click on image for full size (55K JPEG)
Image courtesy of NASA

Last modified March 27, 1999 by the Windows Team

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