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The thermosphere contains an appreciable concentration of elemental sodium located in a 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) thick band that occurs at the edge of the mesosphere, 80 to 100 kilometres (50 to 62 mi) above Earth's surface. The sodium has an average concentration of 400,000 atoms per cubic centimeter.
The sodium layer is a layer of neutral atoms of sodium within Earth's mesosphere. This layer usually lies within an altitude range of 80–105 km (50–65 mi) above sea level and has a depth of about 5 km (3.1 mi). The sodium comes from the ablation of meteors.
Astronomers have begun utilizing this sodium band to create "guide stars" as part of the adaptive optical correction process used to produce ultra-sharp ground-based observations. [10] Other metal layers, e.g. iron and potassium, exist in the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere region as well.
Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable isotope is 23 Na. The free metal does not occur in nature and must be prepared from compounds. Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and halite (NaCl).
The thermosphere extends from an altitude of 85 km to the base of the exosphere at 690 km and contains the ionosphere, where solar radiation ionizes the atmosphere. The density of the ionosphere is greater at short distances from the planetary surface in the daytime and decreases as the ionosphere rises at night-time, thereby allowing a greater ...
Sodium atoms have 11 electrons, one more than the stable configuration of the noble gas neon. As a result, sodium usually forms ionic compounds involving the Na + cation. [1] Sodium is a reactive alkali metal and is much more stable in ionic compounds. It can also form intermetallic compounds and organosodium compounds.
It incorporates all of the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and the lower part of the thermosphere. Chemically the homosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and trace amounts of other molecules, such as argon and carbon dioxide. [1] It contains over 99% of the mass of the Earth's atmosphere.
These layers are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. The troposphere is the lowest of the four layers and extends from the surface of the Earth to about 11 km (6.8 mi) into the atmosphere, where the tropopause (the boundary between the troposphere stratosphere) is located. The width of the troposphere can vary depending ...